Naledi: A Baby Elephant's Tale (2016) - full transcript

The incredible, true-life story of a baby elephant born into a rescue camp in the wilderness of Botswana. When she's suddenly orphaned at one month of age, it's up to the men who look after her herd to save her life.

Nice! What a smooth landing.

All right, sorry, Brett.

Look at the camera?

Just look at me,
if you can see me.

-Yeah, yeah, I can see you...
-Uh, Sorry.

So, um, what's going on right now, Brett?

What an amazing privilege to be here.

What day is this of her pregnancy?

This would be 652 today.

Hopefully it's tonight.

Get it over with.



It will come when it comes.
It's soon, though.

Maybe tonight.

C'mon, c'mon.

Contractions have finally started.

So yeah, hopefully it's the last day.

It's enough now, we need a baby.

We keep on waiting.

We wish the baby could just come.

What we have here on the board
are the suggested names for Kiti's baby.

I think the most pertinent one is Lobaka,
"a long time,"

because we've been hanging out here
waiting for her to give birth

for nearly two weeks.

Because Mr. Brett Mitchell here
got the dates wrong!

Uh-uh, uh-uh...



I did not get the dates wrong!

Those are beautiful names
with beautiful meanings.

I'll go for Naledi! A star!

13 days in, I think we have
enough footage of a calf not being born.

Pregnant elephant
not giving birth is covered!

Day number 661.

About to have a baby.
It's been a long wait, so...

We're about to have a baby,
so looking forward to it.

Come on, come on.

Here we go.

Here we go, here we go.

Quiet, quiet, quiet, quiet.

Quiet.

Oh, my god, it's trying to stand.

Did you see the baby?

Baby was waiting for Liz and AK to come.

-Very excited.
-Very happy.

I've been working
with elephants for almost 20 years.

When I see Naledi, it's like seeing
a new member of the family.

She's like the same as my daughter.
So I'm very proud of her.

I love to see our elephant family
growing up.

So we have achieved
what we've been long waiting for.

Ha, beautiful.
Absolutely beautiful.

Abu Camp is now a halfway house,
I suppose.

Taking on elephants that have had
a bad background.

Some of these elephants
we've got here, they are orphans.

The other ones, they are from the zoo
or circus environment.

The rest, they were born in captivity.

Abu Camp is a safari camp.

The guests, they come here, they get
a chance to walk with the elephants.

We take them out to a different location
each and every day

and then give them a chance to be
as natural as possible.

You know, it's part of being an elephant.

I'm an African,
born and raised here in Botswana,

and the bush is just a part of me,
it's in my blood.

I've been part of this herd
for the last four years.

I've been tasked with looking after them.

I mean, it's a remarkable privilege
and one that has taught me so much

that being an elephant biologist
out in the field

I could never have learnt.

There is just no other program like it
anywhere in the world.

And our philosophy at Abu is to eventually
reintroduce these amazing animals

back into the wild.

They're free-ranging
during the day,

feeding, drinking, mud-wallowing...

being wild elephants.

I'm very happy, to be honest with you,

with what is happening with Naledi,
the way she is being accepted by the herd.

Everything seems to be working well.

Kiti was an orphan.

She was separated from her herd
and now she's been here ever since.

She's a great mum.

Good girl.

She's got a little calf, Lorato,
who is now 5.

And then Paseka came in as a little orphan
and they accepted her in beautifully.

I don't think she's got a bad bone
in her body.

She's one of the sweetest elephants
I've ever met.

All right, Kiti, hey.

I just look at her and she's just perfect.

I would like to see Naledi live out
a natural life as wild as possible,

and that's the decision that she will
ultimately have to make.

But having said that,

the challenges that elephants face
across Africa are so complex.

Loss of habitat.

There's increasing
human-elephant conflict,

retaliatory killings,

exacerbated by the demand for ivory.

We are losing elephants
every 15 minutes,

96 elephants a day.

And a year, it's estimated
that we may be losing

between 25,000 and 30,000 elephants.

We know how fast we're losing elephants,

but how many elephants currently exist
on the African continent is guesswork.

How can you conserve something
which you don't know anything about?

So our mission over the next year,
put in a nutshell,

is essentially to count
Africa's elephants.

Up, up and away.

We'll take to the skies.

We'll be starting here in Botswana,

and then we'll extend to include Angola,
Zambia, Zimbabwe, South Africa.

Oh, he's beautiful.
One bull shaking his head at us big-time.

Then on to Tanzania, Kenya,
South Sudan through to Chad.

Oh, my goodness,
look at all these elephants coming up.

This is a daunting project
of massive proportions,

which has never been attempted.

One bull, big one, beautiful.

But, besides the challenges,
I'm hopeful.

How many elephants have survived
the onslaught of poaching?

Are there isolated pockets of elephants
that are thriving?

God, look at these bulls, Mike.
-Nice!

Beautiful tuskers.

There's so many unknowns,

and this survey will provide us with some
of the most important information ever

to ensuring the long term survival
of elephants.

And I've devoted my life to conserving
these majestic creatures.

Got the phone call on Sunday,

and immediately
I phoned our veterinarian.

By the time the vet
arrived here, her main intestine came out.

I consulted with as many people
as I possibly could,

and that's when I learnt
that there was very little chance of hope.

Then, she lied down because
she was in big stress,

and also in very heavy pain.

I didn't go there when the vet was putting
her down.

He had to inject her to put her to rest,

and that was the end of Kiti.

She died from a prolapse
of the large intestine.

We did what we felt was right,
and that was to bury her.

You know, Kiti wasn't just any elephant.

You know, it caught us,

all of us, by surprise,

and we still not believe
that Kiti is gone.

We think maybe she's gone for a, you know,

she went out for a journey
for a visit somewhere,

maybe one day she will come back.

I think that's enough.

You know, this little girl has been
through such a tragic experience,

and I'm confident that she will...

she'll pull through this difficult time.

It seems like she's
going over it.

I have the feeling that she is going
through hard times,

and it will stay within her mind

for the rest of her life.

Good girl, Cathy.

Good girl, OK.

In the Abu herd, we've got Cathy.

And all the babies, they treat her
as the grandmother.

Cathy has never had her own baby
in her lifetime.

Cathy, wait.

She was taken as a baby at the age of one,

and she has been in zoos and circuses
for more than 20 years.

Cathy, let's go!

Naledi went to Cathy.

Although she's the oldest,
she can be sometimes unpredictable.

But she let Naledi to suckle from her.

She managed to get a little bit
of milk then.

What's really incredible is how
Cathy has been able to produce milk

when she's never had a calf of her own,
that's just phenomenal.

Now, is Cathy producing enough milk?

Is there enough nutrition in it?

We just take each day as it comes.

She's thin.

It's amazing how much weight she's lost.

Do you think she got enough milk today?

No, she's not getting enough.

So what can we do to make sure
that we give her more chances?

After Kiti's death,
the biggest challenge is to feed Naledi.

I'm gonna try and put artificial milk
next to Cathy's nipple.

Then she might take it.

I'll keep on trying.

Each and every day...

Naledi is losing weight
and she's becoming skinny and weak.

You could see that the jaws
were sticking out.

Showing that she wasn't
getting enough food.

Cathy actually doesn't know
how to take care of the baby...

and doesn't have enough milk.

She's living off body fats, essentially,
that's what's keeping her going,

and when those reserves have run out,
it's a very quick deterioration.

Come on.

I tried to rub it around her lower lips.

I've tried to rub the milk formula
around Cathy's breasts.

You know, we're all feeling helpless.

The solution to saving her life
is for her to take the milk formula.

She's reached such a low ebb now.
This is the weakest we have seen her.

She looks drained, she's lethargic.

Her little eyes are weeping,
she holds her head low.

Signs that I've seen out in the wild
of young calves

that have been abandoned
and are on their way out.

At the rate she's going, Wellie...

we will lose her.

OK? In this situation.
All we're doing is buying her more time.

But the rate we're going now...

you know, I don't give her more than
two, three days.

We have to try
and do something.

The best way is to separate her
from all the rest of the herd.

The two sisters
will be stressed,

but it won't help at all if we try
and keep them together.

This is the last option now.

-OK, take Cathy.

We need to open.

Open, open.
Open the side. Open.

Easy, Naledi.

Mike, get inside.

It's our last...

...option to make sure
she pulls through this.

You know, we were watching her die

and this is the only chance that we have
of saving her.

We're asking ourselves, you know,
did we do the right thing?

Easy, easy, easy.

You know, there is no manual
for this work.

It's unpredictable.

And it's very conflicting for all of us

because we are really trying to do
the best we can to save Naledi's life.

Here you go, Wellie.

Just feed it to her.

-Right temperature?
-Much better, thank you.

Hi girl, hi!

-Hi!
-Take this bottle.

Please don't let me down!

We have to be like their mothers.

We have to be with her 24/7.

That's how she'll end up accepting you
as her mother.

'Cause she knows
that you are the provider.

That's a good girl.

You know, she's still clearly
a little nervous.

Come on, girl.

We're offering her powdered milk.

You know, we've just got to take it
one step at a time.

She wants it all!

That gets her trunk up.

Come here.

OK, all right.

All right, shh, shh.

Come. Come, Naledi.

Tell me, what's wrong with you?

You want to suck my finger?

Oh, no, my ear.

I can't get inside her heart
or inside her mind

and tell exactly
what she's going through.

What they need is love.

Feel good?

This is her first night away
from the rest of the herd.

She's had a very stressful day
and she's just drained.

She just needs a good night's sleep
as close to Wellington as possible.

Come, let's sleep. Come on.

Sleep with Wellie.
There you go.

We mustn't leave her
by herself.

The minute you leave her by herself
and she can be stressed from that

and then she can die from that stress.

So we have to make sure
that she has got someone 24/7.

I guess it's been
nearly eight hours

and she hasn't suckled from the bottle.

If she, if she gives up fighting...

we'll lose her.

It's amazing
how these animals quickly adapt.

-I think she's got used to us.
-Yes.

Come, let's go for a walk.
Come on.

Good Mikey.
Cup of coffee.

It's the most important day
in Naledi's life.

If she doesn't build a relationship
and a bond with us,

then we're faced with
some pretty bleak situation.

Steady. Steady.

Stay. Good girl.

Good girl, Naledi.

You have to be very close to her trunk

and she has to feel your face, your nose.

That's how you build your bond with her.

Mix the powder
to a nice consistency.

Come on, girl, hey.

Hey, girl.

Come on.

I was worried about Naledi,
that she wasn't going to make it...

but now she has got us.

We are there to look after her,
to protect her.

Come on.

Let's go say hello to everybody.

Here's dad!

Had us worried all day!

-What have you done?
-Baby.

We thought that she wasn't
going to survive.

Six veterinarians told me
she wasn't going to make it,

but she's well on the road to recovery.

They will keep a watchful eye on her.

She's still too small.

And Naledi's situation reminds me

of how many other orphaned calves
are possibly roaming the continent now,

when there could be hundreds, thousands
who have lost their mothers to poaching

and are looking for help.

I've got to return to the task at hand.

-Ready.
-Ready.

Right.

I love it, it's started!

-All right.

Well done!

I like this, I like this.

We are flying to the famous
Babile Elephant Sanctuary.

It's known to have the largest
elephant population in the country.

Oh, it's a beautiful river, wow.

The scenery is lush and green.

I'm astounded by the beauty of it.

Beautiful day for this.

Yeah, it's beautiful.

Are we in the national park now?

Just about.
I think the boundary's here.

It's an epic landscape, but I look
forward to seeing the elephants.

I don't know
what those buildings are.

Are we in Babile National Park?

- Yeah.
- This is the place?

No.

I mean, this is a massive town.

There are just people everywhere.

I told the pilot,
"You've got the wrong coordinates.

This can't be the elephant sanctuary."

I'm expecting a wild, pristine habitat
where you would expect to see elephants.

You don't expect to see people
in national parks.

Ethiopia is home to 93 million people,

who need to rely
on our natural environment to survive,

and I empathize.

But I don't know if policy makers
and decision makers

are really aware what's at stake.

Where are most of the elephants seen?

Usually they are using
this valley.

-It's worth going to have a look, yeah?
-Do they know where it is?

50 cattle.

Big village. Surrounding farms.

-Where are the elephants, guys?
-I don't know.

Over the last three days,

we've spent 20 hours flying
in a fixed wing.

60 cattle.

We've spent nearly 15 hours
in a helicopter.

Unfortunately,
we didn't see any elephants.

Land that used to belong to the elephants

has been eroded away
and settled by people.

So I don't hold out much hope

for the rest of the elephant range
or national parks in Ethiopia.

But we can't give up.

Elephants! There they are!

-Where, where?
-Three o'clock.

Wow! Wow.

-Wow!
-Bloody hell!

Whoo!

Wow!

-You see them?
-Yeah, I see them.

When I first saw them,

my initial reaction was
one of just great surprise and shock

that indeed there are elephants left.

What luck, eh?

-Oh, yeah.
-Pure luck.

But there was only one bull.

Forty elephant cows and one bull.

He's the only sexually mature bull left
in that herd to cover those cows.

He's a target for poachers.

That whole herd is...

...teetering on the brink
of local extinction.

If he gets shot...

...that's the end of it.

It takes quite a lot of work
to look after a baby elephant.

We got all the handlers
to rotate on the Naledi shift.

Not even a minute had passed
without being with Naledi.

Naledi, come, come on, girl.

Hello, my girl.

As you can see,
she's very strong and healthy.

Before, you could see her jaws
sticking out...

but now she's doing great.

Kenya has always been
at the top of our list

for the pan-Africa aerial survey.

The country has always been at the helm
of elephant conservation.

This is one of the last strongholds
for African elephants.

I hope you're finding
some elephants now, I hope.

Nice numbers.

Along a dry riverbed.

-How are you doing, mate?
-Are you well, mate?

-Very good.
-Good.

Well, we've found a pretty special one
just up the road here,

so you might just see your big elephant.

Wonderful, look forward to that.

We saw some beautiful tuskers today,
actually.

Beautiful.

They were thick in there.

Nice numbers.

Do you find that poachers

are specifically targeting
bigger tusked animals or anything?

Anything.

One thing is for sure:
if they're not looked after,

they ain't gonna be here for tomorrow,
as plain and simple as that.

He's a really special guy.

He's called Satao.

His tusks are touching the ground!

It's certainly the biggest boy I've seen.

It is one of those things
that you think are

a forgotten thing of the past,
but, in fact, he's right there.

I'm just wondering why he would be
a little skittish and shy.

We noticed two horrible wounds
on his left side.

One was oozing pus
and the other dripping blood.

He's clearly been targeted.

A rare treasure, eh?

Imagine what he could be
just to be given another five years.

Last time I was at Abu
was four and a half months ago.

The last I heard was that Naledi
was doing exceptionally well.

She's gained weight, she's very playful.

She puts a smile on my face,
so that's enough for now.

There's an element
of great excitement to see Naledi.

I doubt whether she'll remember me, but...

just seeing her is going to be thrilling.

Hello, my girl.

Naledi, hi.

Hello, my girl. Hello.

-Hey, hello!

I missed you, man, hey?
Hello.

Yes. I missed you too, hey?

Hey, my girl, yes, I missed you too, eh?

The guys have taken such good care of her
while I've been flying the aerial survey.

She doesn't have that sunken look
and that glazed look over the eyes.

You can see she's strong.

She's certainly healthy.

She's chubby and strong

and there's a sparkle in her eye,
which is really encouraging.

Well done, Onx.

I'm very proud of you guys.
You've done well.

Do you think she's ready to go back, Onx?

I think we always spoke
about Naledi's reintroduction.

Do we think that perhaps now is the time

for her to go back and join the rest
of the family and her sisters?

I think this is the time, Mike.

You know, she needs to start learning
from the herd.

So what's the plan, then?

Naledi's ready,
and the rest of the herd,

especially Lorato, are looking forward
to meet her sister again, already.

She's been away from the herd
for four months,

so I think it's the time for her to come
and join up with the herd.

It's not as simple as opening
the door and saying,

"Naledi, here's Lorato."

We don't want the moment to be marred

by a bad response
by the rest of the herd.

Brett, Brett, Brett, do you copy?

Lorato and them are going to come
from the other side now.

It needs to be a gradual
reintroduction.

A little bit closer.

It's about equal distance
where Mike and Naledi are.

So they can start
walking in together, it's fine.

Hey, Mike.

Is Lorato coming over first?

Yeah, Lorato's in front here.

She'll pick up her scent just now,
I'm sure.

-Yeah, her trunk's already up.
-Yeah.

Lorato is Naledi's big sister.

So hopefully she is accepted
within the herd.

They can walk her.

-Let it happen.

OK.

Easy, easy.

-Good girl.
-Lorato, easy, girl.

All right, Lorato.

Come, girl.

Come, Lorato.

Come, Lorato, yeah, good girl.

It's your sister, Lorato.
Good girl.

Lorato, easy, girl.

All right, Lorato.

Come, Lorato,
it's your little sister.

Lorato, come. Come, Lorato.

Lorato's very confused
at the moment.

What's going through her head is,
"This is not right."

Potentially saying,
"Hang on, this is not right.

I know this smell, but she's been gone.
Where's she been gone?"

She hasn't seen her for 4 1/2 months.

Can you come with Sherini and Warona?
Just ask Chris to hang back there.

Just give them a bit of space because
none of us want to get knocked over.

Come, Paseka!
Come, Paseka, good girl.

Paseka is the adopted sister
of Naledi.

All right. Easy, easy.

She's always been there
for Naledi.

Good girl.
Come, Paseka, come, Paseka.

Easy, easy. Come, Paseka.
Come see here. Come, Paseka.

Just let it happen.

Let it happen, let it happen,
let it happen.

Let it happen.

-Come, Lorato. Come, Lorato.
-Let it happen.

Just a nice big circle.

Just keep circling her, Sonny.
Come this way.

-All right.

Easy girl, all right, all right.

It's your sister. Good girl.

That's your sister. Yes.

These animals
have incredible bonds.

Clearly Naledi remembered Paseka
and Lorato,

and they just picked up
where they left off.

We all thought she was going
to come directly to us, but look at her.

She's quite comfortable
with her two sisters.

Where she belongs, eh?
In and amongst those legs.

See the ears?

The whole family is celebrating,

and I think that's exactly what is
happening here, you know.

You can't take away that bond.

You're not going to take that away.

She'll come back.
She wants...she will have it.

She'll come back to the milk.

You must remember
when you have your own baby,

you mustn't mix
a 2-liter coke bottle, eh?

Naledi,
now she's becoming an elephant.

She's eating a lot of grass and leaves.

She's growing each and every day.

Her two sisters,
they've got a very big role to play.

They're going to teach her which grass
to pick or which plant to eat

and make sure that she doesn't roam
far away from the herd.

She has to know who to be scared of,
who to be comfortable around with.

There's just a lot that she has to learn.

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪

♪ Happy birthday to you ♪♪

It makes me very happy

now she's grown,
and we are very good mothers.

Not fathers, no, but mothers.

Come and eat your cake.

It shows that we've made it.

♪ Naledi, Naledi... ♪

Naledi has not been well.

She's always energetic
and playing around, running,

picking grass, leaves...

but she didn't want to eat,
she didn't want to drink.

She's definitely weak.
She's clearly not feeling well.

We don't know what it is,
but she's just not full of energy.

I'd rather just be on the safe side
and have Rob come and look at her.

She's dribbling.

I'm just scared
she's eaten something stupid.

I would like to maybe
give her something

to make her feel
a bit more comfortable.

OK, you guys good?

We are good.

Very good. Well done, OK.

OK. Well done.

She's suffering
from severe constipation.

But unfortunately,
it just got worse and worse.

She had been poked and prodded
and given enemas and tubing via her mouth

in hope that she was going to be able
to pass this blockage,

but it just got worse.

I didn't know how long
she could sustain this for.

I asked the vet what her chances
of survival were, he said 30%.

Swabs before we do anything.

Surgery was the only alternative
to try and remove this blockage.

We want a vein.

It was like watching
your child being operated.

You could see most of us
were worried about,

is she going to make it?

Maybe this is the end of it.

We gave her general anaesthetic,
which is quite dangerous.

It's always a risk

putting any animal or human being
under anaesthetic, always.

She's not breathing.

Down on the table right here.
We can wash with...

-Rob, she's not breathing!
-OK.

-Got my hand in here.
-Check the breathing and the pulse.

Where's the heartbeat?

There's some adrenaline
on the left-hand side.

Let's get the oxygen onto her.

-Is she going?
-No, nope.

Give her that.

Shall I give her some Antisedan?

Dopamine and Antisedan.

Luck.

That's the polite version.

You can give her...
Let's see if she does it again.

-That's the heartbeat.
-Yeah.

-You need to be not touching her.

They started
opening her up...

and all of a sudden...

for sure we saw the problem.

Then he opened a small space.

Then he started pulling
all the palm leaves out.

How's Naledi?

She's doing better, thank you.

She's still clearly in a lot of pain,

and she's not drinking as much milk
as I would like her to be.

How much did she have today?

Well, from 6:00 this morning up to now,

she's only had five litres, which is --

That's bad.

Yeah. Compared to 60 litres a day,
yeah, it's worrying.

She needs that milk, obviously,
to build up her strength.

OK, then, I'll talk to you
in the morning again, eh?

Yes, I'll let you know
when I get in, Dad, thanks.

OK, bye.

All right, check you later, bye.

Here in the delta,

a lot of elephants, they eat palm leaves.

A baby elephant eats too many,
or too much of it, it will cause problems.

We have to keep her away
from the palm leaves

until she's three to four years...

which means she will have to stay
within this enclosure all day long,

while her family,
they are out in the bush feeding.

It's very difficult for her.
She is still a baby, you know?

She is missing her two sisters.

Elephant bones.

Between three and four, Mike.

They're scattered, but you can really see
an elephant.

Elephant bones, Mike. Uh...

Got, I would say, four,
and three giraffes.

I've seen
a lot of elephant carcasses

that have been poached

and had their faces hacked off
and their ivory pulled out.

Elephant carcass.

Doesn't look good, eh?

2012 was the worst year for us.

2012 we lost a lot of elephants.

This elephant was shot on Tuesday.

That's a bullet wound.

It's a female, that's a female.

Can you believe it that people
are killing these animals,

chop out the tusks so people can adorn
their houses as a status symbol

and decorate their homes,

leaving us in Africa with a landscape
strewn with rotting carcasses?

How can you possibly display ivory
in your house and be proud of this?

I can't tell you. It's just too sad.

Twelve elephants
have been slaughtered

in the single worst recorded
ivory poaching in Kenya.

It's happening on our watch.
The rate of killing is unsustainable.

Ivory poachers killed
more than 80 elephants in Zimbabwe.

More than
20,000 African elephants were killed.

The State Department
called on world leaders

to stop the epic slaughter
of African elephants.

If we cannot save the world's
largest land mammal,

the African elephant...

you know, then the prognosis

for wildlife conservation in Africa
is bleak.

Poachers have killed
one of Kenya's most famous elephants.

Tsavo Trust confirmed that Satao was shot
dead by poisoned arrows...

The giant elephant
had tusks that nearly reached the ground

and is believed to have been one
of the world's largest living elephants.

Satao was killed by an ivory poacher's
poisoned arrow

to feed a seemingly insatiable demand
for ivory in far-off countries.

Naledi's struggle
is really emblematic

of the crisis that we find ourselves in.

Her story has been told.

There are many anonymous elephants
that are orphaned by poaching

and this insatiable demand for ivory.

The death of one is a tragedy.

The death of tens of thousands
becomes a statistic.

Her journey is really emblematic
of the journey

we are embarking to save
her wild cousins...

...if we are able to act now...

because we don't have a lot of time.

So I'm extremely pleased
to bring our next presenter on,

Dr Mike Chase
from Elephants Without Borders.

Conservationist George Schaller once said,

"We have a moral responsibility
to help protect the species we study."

-Look at these bulls, Mike!
-Nice!

I've had the privilege to study

one of the most remarkable creatures
on our planet...

Beautiful tuskers!

..,the African elephant.

Imagine what he could be
just to be given another five years.

I wish I could tell you here today
that our elephants are still thriving.

The family of elephants
was shot multiple times.

But they are not.

Satao was shot dead.

We need the government to do something.

I've documented with regret
the retreat of elephants

from habitats that
were rapidly recolonizing.

It's almost impossible.
It's just wall to wall people.

I don't think I brought enough data sheets
to record all the human settlement.

The present ivory war
has hampered growth in elephant numbers

that took place between 1990 and 2010.

They died after water holes

were poisoned with cyanide at...

Last month, our team flew
an aerial survey in one of the parks,

which, in 2003, had 2,000 elephants.

There's an elephant carcass.

That's a carcass?

We counted just 33 elephants
and 55 elephant carcasses.

Every year,

25,000 elephants are being killed
by poachers.

Guns are sold in streets, like vegetables.

We are determined to count
each savannah elephant on the continent...

OK, one more.

...the live ones that offer us hope...

Wow! Do you see them?

...and the dead ones that remind us
of the fate of these animals

if we don't stop
these unsustainable rates of killing.

If I constantly think about it,
I wouldn't be able to do this work.

Eventually, we'll win this war.

We'll need a bit of help, yes,
but we will win this war.

A strong momentum
from all over the world...

...is developing to turn this tide.

We have to act rather than talking.

The United States
and China have made a commitment

to stop ivory trade.

When they buy ivory,
there's a gun shot happening in Africa.

No tradition or fashion is worth
the extinction of an entire species.

That we're not only
crushing ivory,

we're crushing the bloody ivory market.

I humbly request your support

in our quest to save the African elephant.

Thank you.

I hope that the future
of the rest of Africa's elephants

are as bright as I think Naledi's will be.

Hello, Baba, how are you?

-Are you well?
-Yeah, just an update regarding Naledi.

How is she doing?

Yeah, she's better.

And yesterday she had 26 litres of milk.

Yeah, sure.

Yeah, so sometimes it's only good news,
not bad news all the time, man.

C'mon.

Come on.

Are you teaching me how to swim, Naledi?

She is getting better
each and every day.

She seems to be strong enough to go out
to join the herd for a few hours.

Where are you going?

She's a free Mandela.

Naledi. They are here.

All the ladies are here.
Come, come here.

Come.

I don't know what
is going to happen.

If she should like to live with us
for the rest of her life,

that would be all right.

And if she's happy to go
and live in the wild, it's also OK.

You cannot tame a wild animal.

So if it is happy to be with you,
so be it.

If it is not happy to be with you,
let it be wild.

And rolling.

You've got no control of that trunk,
my dear.

You've got no control over that trunk.

Naledi! What do you want?

Have you got an itchy nose?

♪ Naledi, Naledi... ♪

Naledi!

Maybe she can play the guitar.

She wants to play.

♪ Hey there, Doctor Chase ♪

♪ Can I borrow your wings to fly ♪

♪ Above the elephants ♪

♪ And ride the wind over ♪

♪ The Mother of Africa ♪

♪ Mmm ♪

♪ The Mother of Africa ♪

♪ Oh, hey there, Doctor Chase ♪

♪ Can I borrow your eyes ♪

♪ To watch over the elephants ♪

♪ I watch the sun rise above ♪

♪ The Mother of Africa ♪

♪ Mmm ♪

♪ The Mother of Africa... ♪

♪ ...to all you people of the world ♪

♪ Come and see, come and see ♪

♪ All you people round the world ♪

♪ This is why your heart beats to the ♪

♪ The rhythm of Africa ♪

♪ Yeah ♪

♪ The rhythm of Africa... ♪

♪ Hey there, Doctor Chase ♪

♪ Can I borrow your wings to fly ♪

♪ Above the elephants ♪

♪ And ride the wind above this ♪

♪ Mother of Africa ♪

♪ Mmm ♪

♪ The Mother is Africa ♪

♪ Africa... ♪