Last Chance to See (2009–…): Season 2, Episode 1 - Return of the Rhino - full transcript
'A year ago the zoologist Mark
Carwardine took me to Africa
'in search of the critically
endangered Northern White Rhino.
'We had many wildlife encounters...'
(Just fantastic.)
'But we singularly failed
to find Northern White Rhinos...
'which a full scale survey then
declared to be extinct in the wild.
'But, sometime after filming,
we began to hear of an extraordinary
'mission to take four of the last
Northern White Rhinos in captivity
'and return them to the plains
of Africa in the hope that they
might breed and save their kind.
'It was a mission that risked the
life of people and animals alike.
'The last hope for some of
the rarest creatures on earth.'
'Every species of rhino in the
world is threatened by extinction
and the race is on to save them.'
Oh!
Holy mackerel.
'When we were last in Africa,
we saw how extreme measures
are now being taken
'to move smaller black rhinos
to re-establish breeding
populations in new areas.'
There's the helicopter over there.
'This work is turning the
corner for black rhinos.
'But for Northern Whites,
it's already too late
for this kind of help.
'Theirs is the ultimate
conservation challenge.'
Oh, God.
Once, Northern White Rhinos
roamed the grasslands of Central
Africa in their thousands.
Today, there are none.
The problem is the horn.
Rhino horn is a key ingredient of
so-called 'Chinese Medicine',
fuelling the poaching
that has depleted rhino numbers
right across the world.
Northern White Rhinos were
impossible to protect
for one simple reason.
They lived in the middle
of a long and bloody war.
Today there are just eight Northern
White Rhinos left on earth.
Two in a zoo in San Diego,
and six in a zoo at Dvur Kralove
in the Czech Republic.
Goodness knows how some
of these tropical animals
cope with frozen water.
'Unfortunately, Northern Whites
only breed well in the wild,
'and so a last-ditch attempt
is about to be made to
send some of them home.
'It's the very last chance to save
the third-largest animal on land
from imminent extinction.'
This is very...
There he is.
Oh, I say. Hello,
does he have a name or she?
This one is called Sudan.
He's a male. Right.
And erm, can you believe we're
actually seeing a Northern White
Rhino. I never thought we'd see one,
we spent all those weeks searching,
didn't we, never actually got to the
Congo where they were last seen,
and I thought that was it,
but here we are.
Hello, Sudan, Sudan!
Sudan! Oh, look, carrots and apples.
HE TAPS GATE
Here he is, hello.
Because they're notoriously
not good on eyesight, are they?
No, but they can hear us.
Hello, Sudan.
Look at that, carrot?
Oh, you do,
you definitely wanted that.
'Only five Northern White Rhinos
have ever been born in captivity,
'and Sudan has fathered three
of them, making him the first
choice for the journey to Africa.
'He was captured in Sudan
at the age of three and has
been in captivity for 35 years.'
Hi, are you Pete? Yes.
Stephen, nice to meet you.
'Vet, Pete Morkell,
has just flown in from South Africa
'to take charge of a mission
six years in the planning.
'The choice of which rhinos would
travel was conducted strictly
'on the basis of which rhinos
were most likely to breed.
'Four have been selected.
'Sudan, the only living male
to breed previously,
'Sudan's daughter Najin,
granddaughter Fatu,
'and a cousin called Suni.'
They must know something's up,
you can't help feeling
that they do know something's up.
I'm sure this doesn't happen
every day they get quite
such attention. hello!
So it must be very nerve-wracking
for you, the whole process.
Yeah, It is pretty nerve-wracking,
I try to look cool about it,
but it is nerve-wracking.
I mean although one has
experience and I've obviously
worked a lot with rhinos,
you're never know quite sure
how it's going to work out,
as big and strong as that,
you don't want him to...
to freak out at 30,000 ft
up in a plane. You want him
to be as relaxed as possible.
I remember taking some white rhino
to Albuquerque Zoo in the States,
and just we're all
floating at the zoo,
the floor fell out of the crate and
we had the rhino... Oh, no!
..his legs coming out the bottom.
'We're leaving Pete to figure out
the details of moving Sudan and
the other Northern White Rhinos.
'For Pete,
this is a huge challenge,
'and a strange turnaround for a
man who learned his craft catching
animals in the wild for zoos.'
We took some animals to zoos
about 15-20 years ago and
I didn't feel good about it.
Having done it the other way
around where you've taken it
from a huge bit of Africa,
and you've flown it across
the world and you release it
into a little concrete pen,
ten metres by ten and how terrible
you feel, I thought what the hell,
'can't we do it
the other way around,
'can't we bring some of the animals
which they have in zoos which we
don't have any more in Africa,
'or don't have a lot of,
take them back to Africa,
'and I discussed the idea
with a friend of mine,
'Hamish Currie, and it was my idea,
'but he's really took it
and ran with it.'
Off you go, you fat shlonk.
Hamish Currie and Pete Morkell
founded the organisation
Back To Africa,
and are now champions
of the controversial practise
of returning zoo animals
to their native continent.
We travelled to Swaziland
to track down Hamish Currie,
and see for ourselves how
populations of African animals
have already been re-started from
shipments of European zoo animals.
The Roan Antelope
was once common in Swaziland.
By 1960 poaching was rife
and the last individual
vanished from the country.
In 2003, Pete and Hamish
began to bring antelopes
from Marwell Zoo in the UK and Dvur
Kralove Zoo in the Czech Republic.
Now, the animals are re-habituated,
but some individuals, it seems,
will never quite
adjust to the wild.
Hello Hamish. Hi, how are you doing?
Great how are you. Welcome to
Swaziland, lovely to see you.
This is the most tame sort of
looking antelope I've ever seen.
Hello.
Yes, this is Tandiwe.
She is a zoo-born Roan,
and her parents, her mother
actually came from Marwell
Zoological Park in the UK,
so she's really English.
And was translocated here.
With roan,
their ears tell you everything.
When a Roan's ears are up,
she's a happy Roan,
and when the ears flop down,
you've got an unhappy Roan.
Mind those horns.
Yes, I don't want her to whip
your goolies off this time.
No, I'd be quite happy for
her not to do that as well.
These are powerful horns, they have
actually killed lions in the wild.
She's quite interested
in my nether regions.
There we go.
She's actually a sweet thing,
she just doesn't know her strength.
That is strong. Yeah.
OK, there we go, puppy dog.
I'm going this way. It's all right,
it's all right, keep calm.
There we go, puppy!
There we go. Hello...
Are they actually too rare
in other parts of Africa
to translocate wild animals
to bring them back to Swaziland?
Why have you chosen zoo animals
to do the translocation?
I think an important part
of this is that,
to deplete any species
where it occurs naturally
is obviously detrimental.
Especially when they're rare anyway.
Exactly, so we're identifying
the fact that we can take them
from a zoo,
where in a sense for generations
zoos have existed
just to display animals,
and now zoos have got a new meaning.
Back in the Czech Republic,
Pete has decided on a seemingly
radical, but painless procedure,
that will deter poachers intent on
getting their hands on rhino horn.
Though the process is entirely
painless, the rhinos have to be
sedated to ensure that the noise
of the chainsaw doesn't cause the
animals to fling well-meaning
keepers in all directions.
But, there's one rhino Pete
really doesn't want to sedate.
Though these animals have been known
to live into their forties,
at 38, no-one wants to take
any chances sedating Sudan.
Hello, big fella.
We try one more time, big fella.
Five days before the great journey
takes place, there has been a
spate of negative publicity.
Some parts of the Czech press
have called for the Rhinos to
remain in their adopted country,
and "expert opinion" has appeared
suggesting the animals may not even
survive the journey to Africa.
It's not a simple business
this translocation, is it?
I mean it's not like you just
tranquilise an animal and
then move it? It carries risk?
Well, this is the other worry,
of course,
as soon as you start darting
and anesthetising animals,
and putting them in crates and
release them to places
where there's all sorts of diseases
they've never come across,
then it's a huge risk and there's
a big risk that you might
lose some or all
of the individual animals you're
trying to translocate,
so that on top of everything else
is why it's controversial.
RHINOS GRUNT
With pressure mounting,
a beleaguered Pete has
called in re-enforcements.
What are you up to, eh?
Berry White is known
as The Rhino Whisperer.
'They're very misunderstood.
'It's quite sad. I suppose the
general public think of animals,'
and animals that people love and
they think of elephants and tigers,
and rhinos just get forgotten about.
Probably no animal
that's suffered in such a way.
Like nearly been eliminated in such
a short space of time as the rhino.
Having spent her life around rhinos,
Berry now specialises
in keeping animals calm through
traumatic and stressful situations.
C'mon then, Najin.
Starting with
Najin the older female, Berry has
begun a strict training regime.
At up to three tonnes,
when a rhino's patience snaps,
it can be seriously problematic.
To minimise the prospect
of rhino mayhem at 35,000 ft,
Berry wants each of the rhinos
to get used to spending time
in a very enclosed space.
There's a good girl...
there's a good girl.
'Once back in Africa,
formerly placid zoo animals
'instinctively adopt the habits
needed to survive in the wild,
'giving problems
to Hamish and his team.'
HE FIRES DART
Good shot. Very good.
Well done, right in the bum.
'In the wild, male Roan Antelopes
have been known to kill competing
males with their horns.
'But while this herd is
still un-naturally small,
'creative solutions
have had to be found to ensure
the safety of every individual.'
See the power coming
when it just leapt up. Staggering.
Nice simple technique.
'These tubes prevent other antelope
from being injured by the horns.
'Numbers are increasing and the
project has been hailed a success.'
I hope he doesn't feel silly
in his new gear.
I think he's quite fetching.
It's all right, isn't it?
That's it.
In the wild,
a female rhino might have a calf
every two or three years.
In captivity,
only five Northern White Rhinos
have been born in three decades.
This is Najin, one of the female
rhinos that will be making
the journey along with Sudan.
As the only female
young enough to reproduce,
all hope was placed with her,
and ten years ago she succeeded
in giving birth to a single calf.
The calf was named Fatu.
Now Fatu is fully grown,
and will travel to Africa
with her mother Najin,
grandfather Sudan,
and Suni, the young male.
Though Fatu and her mother are
now the only Northern White females
young enough to reproduce,
neither has successfully
done so in the last decade.
'But the team holds out hope that
transporting the animals to Africa
'will make all the difference.'
Middens that we see in front of us
here... The collection of poo.
Exactly. Is very much a territorial
activity of rhinos, and of course
every male will have his territory,
compete with females, and
it's not possible in a zoo
just due to spatial issues
for rhinos to have that ability,
and of course this affects the whole.
It's yet another
trigger inside its mind...
that sets it off
on a breading purpose.
'Hamish is taking us
to see an iconic species
'that refuses to breed in captivity,
'but here in the wilds of Swaziland,
well, it's a very different story.'
They breed so well here and it's
because they've got so much space,
and of course,
if we look at a zoo situation,
because they don't have space, the
whole social issues of how elephants
and rhinos work is different,
and I think that's one of the
main reasons, it's a space issue.
Just shows that zoos,
however well-intentioned they are,
what they can't reproduce is
the full social spectrum of activity
that is part of why big mammals
breed.
It's not just
"there's a male, there's a female,
they're bound to breed",
they need all kinds
of other triggers.
That's exactly right.
With the "Back to Africa"
concept of bringing animals,
we've got to tie up the expertise
that people in zoos
have in breeding animals,
and some animals
may breed really well,
but not forgetting nature.
Nature is also the most powerful
stimulus for that to happen.
With two days to go,
Pete is working with Suni,
the last and perhaps the most
challenging of the rhinos
to be making the journey.
We're bringing Suni out.
He's by far the biggest animal,
so we don't want too
much nonsense from him.
Now he's going to be a handful.
Oh, he will, yeah.
For Pete, the next part of the
training is the most dangerous.
When he's in the crate,
that's the only place
we can really operate from,
from behind, especially if you have
to jab them or check them out.
That's where the gap is
at the top back part of the crate,
so the more used to him
having us behind him the better.
Here he comes.
Who's a good boy? C'mon.
Hello big fella, I'm going to
quietly get to the back there.
He's very jumpy, all right.
Hello boy, hello boy.
Don't you go squashing Pete.
Hello big sausage. You're a funny
boy aren't you, there's a good boy.
Hello big sausage,
hello boy, hello sausage.
All right there,
it's OK, that's OK, son.
I guess you haven't been
behind them before in here.
I've always been in
the front with him.
All right, son.
They're always dangerous.
There was a young lad in Botswana,
he was looking after them in a pen,
and he was just trying to get
them from one pen to another
and they were really tamed down,
and he thought he'd go and stand
there at the door and waved his hat,
and the rhino came through so
quickly, he tried to run to the
other side of the second pen,
and the rhino got him, and that was
just sort of squashed him,
that was the end of him.
So erm... Hello boy,
hello boy, hello big chap,
hello big fella,
hello big fella, hello big chap.
Hello big boy, that's not so bad,
yeah, that's not so bad.
That's not so bad.
You're just a different
boy all together, aren't you?
Might have to look at those pens
in Kenya and see if they'll be
able to hold this fella.
Last year, when Mark
first brought me in search
of Northern White Rhinos,
we started our adventures
at a rhino sanctuary in Kenya.
Four hours north of Nairobi, The Ol
Pejeta Conservancy is 90,000 acres
of African wilderness,
managed by Batian Craig.
'On that first visit,
Batian introduced us to some of the
rhinos living in the conservancy.
'Now, Batian is about to
become responsible for Sudan,
'Najin, Fatu and Suni,
the most endangered rhinos on earth.
'While Mark heads back to the Czech
zoo to see how the preparations
for the journey are going,
'I am making my way to Kenya
to see how Batian is preparing
for his new arrivals.'
Phew, wow, that's hot.
Ah, Batian,
how nice to see you again.
'But on his return to the zoo,
Mark finds that the temperature
has plummeted to minus 12
'and the place has been transformed
by a scattering of snow. And there
is no sign of the rhinos.'
What's a lovely day.
Yes, it's beautiful, isn't it?
Yes, crisp and freezing cold,
but where are the rhinos?
Well, the thing is the rhinos are
not going to come out this morning
because it is too cold for them.
But that's a problem isn't it,
because don't you need every
minute you can possibly get
to train them going
through the crates?
Yeah, hopefully this afternoon
if it warms up a little bit.
'Sitting on the equator, the
Ol Pejeta Conservancy has the
perfect climate for African wildlife,
'but there was another reason it's
been selected as the new home for
the precious Northern White Rhinos.
'Ol Pejeta has excellent
security against poachers.
'The entire Conservancy is ringed by
220 kilometres of electric fence,
'patrolled 24 hours a day by Ol
Pejeta's own, fully armed, security.
'And, right at the heart of the
conservancy, Batian has hurriedly
'built a series of sturdy enclosures
for the Northern White Rhinos.'
None of this
was there a month ago.
You built this all in a month?!
Literally.
In they come, the rhinos,
and they'll look around here...
"Where on earth am I?"
'Although the Rhinos will eventually
be released into the expanses
of the conservancy,
'while they acclimatise to Africa,
they will be kept here.'
In each pen, one token bit
of Africa with a bit of grass.
Oh, just to get them,
because after all,
I mean they are grazers aren't they,
and I suppose they've got
to get used to grazing,
because in Prague I don't
think they did any grazing at all.
There's no grass there.
There's no grass in their paddocks?
I don't think so, it's hard to
tell because it was midwinter
when I visited, but it didn't
look like the kind of place
that would have grass there.
Although the temperature
hasn't risen,
Pete has decided to give the
rhinos one last outing before
the long journey in the crates.
For rhinos that will be in Africa
in less than 48 hours,
it's a strange farewell
to the Czech Republic.
Another reason Ol Pejeta
has been selected to take
the Northern Whites
is its expertise
is dealing with endangered rhinos.
For the last few years, Ol Pejeta
has specialised in conserving the
critically endangered Black Rhino
and, with 86, is now the
biggest Black Rhino sanctuary
in East Africa.
Each of the Black Rhinos
receives special attention,
but none as much as Nabur.
Oh, you're adorable.
'Nabur is an orphaned baby
that was brought to the
conservancy a year ago.
'She now has Muhammad,
a keeper, who not only spends his
days with the young rhino,
'he even sleeps next to her.
'As Muhammad has been helping
build the enclosures,
Nabur has been living here,
'and the final act of preparing
for the new arrivals
is to move Nabur out.
'But that doesn't mean
that she'll be getting
any less care and attention.'
Here we are.
this is how you feed a baby rhino,
six pints according to Muhammad.
Six pints five times a day.
Five times a day, six pints,
30 pints of this
she gets through a day,
via the "easy nurse",
as they call it.
Quite something, isn't it?
I look forward to this.
Nabur? Nabur?
Nabur. Lookie here,
look what I've got.
Look what I've got!
RHINO SUCKS ON TEAT
Oh, what a fabulous noise!
And you're eyes are opening
and closing in bliss.
HE LAUGHS
I don't think I've ever done
anything more satisfying.
You're nearly finished.
He never even stopped for a breath!
That's it, how do you do that?!
Everything! What a good girl.
Oh!
I expect a big burp now.
Now I think I can possibly
retire saying I have done everything
on this planet that is worth doing.
The next morning, Pete is up early
preparing sedation for the rhinos
before they enter the crates
for a journey that will last
almost 30 hours.
It looks like everything is pretty
much ready for the first rhino.
10 minutes to go, we've been told,
and we've also been told in no
uncertain terms, keep out of the way,
so what we've done is we've put four
little cameras along the runway here
and looking into the crate,
little minicams.
Cameraman is going to be hiding
behind some rocks in the
middle of the enclosure over there,
and when I'm given the nod,
I'm going to go racing around here
and hide behind the wall,
and hopefully be able
to see something from there,
so fingers crossed,
one of us will see what's going on.
Pete really is tense. I'm not
surprised cos there's a lot at stake,
but he's hardly talking
and barking instructions
and rushing backwards and forwards,
and obviously absolutely focused
on what he's trying to do.
(And all's silent.)
Honza is the zoo's rhino keeper.
He's been looking after the
Northern White Rhinos for 25 years,
and it's his job to lead them
into their carrying crates.
Starting with Fatu's mother Najin.
That's amazing. I think he's actually
got a rhino in the first crate.
That was so easy!
And next up is Fatu, who's the one
people were a little bit
worried about a week ago.
It's so cold I can hardly talk!
But she's been given some valium
at the moment,
and as soon as she's ready,
a crate's being prepared,
and she'll be bought out next.
So fingers crossed she
does as well as her mum.
The young Fatu is always
unpredictable when she's
separated from her mother, Najin.
As Najin has been crated first,
no-one knows what to
expect from Fatu.
This time, Pete has insisted that
Mark and the team stand to one side,
well out of sight of the rhino, to
minimise any chance of spooking her.
But almost immediately, Fatu
starts to give the rhino keepers
cause for concern.
(Fatu is not too sure, he looked
pretty good, followed the keeper.
(They're just here now,
we need to come back a little bit.)
RHINO KEEPER SPEAKS IN CZECH
After 50 minutes of coaxing
the precious rhino,
she's no closer to
getting in the crate,
and Pete is aware that the drugs
he has given her
are starting to wear off.
To keep the animal safe, and to keep
with a chance of catching the plane,
Pete decides his only option
is to revert to brute force.
But even with the full force
of six people pulling and pushing,
the two-and-a-half tonne Fatu is
determined not to enter the crate.
Although Berry is not supposed
to begin calming the rhinos
until they are on the road,
she decides to see if a
different approach is called for.
All right, angel,
all right, darling.
There we go.
Hello, love, hello darling,
how are you doing?
Come on, are you going to come in?
Come on, sweet girl, it's OK.
Hey, what's up? Fatu, come on.
Come on, sweetheart, you're
a funny girl, aren't you? Come on.
You're a funny girl, aren't you?
You're not at all scared.
Come on, then.
Come on, darling.
Come on. Come on, darling. Come on,
gently now. There's a good girl.
There's a good girl. Well done.
Right, good girl.
Steady, darling. Well done.
All right, Fatu, come on
forward a bit, darling.
There's a good girl. Good girl.
All right, Angel, all right.
All right, darling.
There's a good girl.
She's a sweetie pie.
She loves it in here.
All right, all right, lady.
All right, lady.
All right, darling. All right.
All right, darling.
Although Fatu is finally in the
crate, she is very unsettled,
and it is clear that Berry
is going to have to keep a close
eye on her throughout the journey.
Next up, I think, is Suni,
who is the one everyone's
really worried about.
But Suni,
the biggest of the rhinos,
delivers the biggest surprise of
the day and enters the crate
in a matter of seconds.
Just one more loading to go.
Hello, Stephen. 'Mark, hello.'
Hi, how are you?
I'm in the baking sun in Old
Pejeta and it's just beautiful.
Oh, it's hot and
sunny here too, actually.
'No, it's a lie,
'it's about minus ten
and it's freezing!'
We're just watching Suni
leave right now, funnily enough.
It's lovely and lush and green here
at the moment, all the water holes
are full and it's looking great.
They're going to be so astonished.
What an amazing contrast.
Just unbelievable!
I can't imagine the culture
shock that awaits them.
So is everything ready there,
is everything all set
for them in Old Pejeta?
We've got a bit of work to do
before you arrive,
we've got to go to the Bomas and
make sure that they're all
spick and span and rhino ready.
So we won't just be lazing
around in the sun, I assure you!
Hot and sunny, it's not fair.
I should have had that job!
So in the Czech Republic,
we saw the rhinos being
trained to go into the crates.
Well here we're seeing the humans
being trained, as it were,
to get this crate as smoothly as
possible into that white area there,
which is exactly the front of the
door, the gate to the Bomas where...
This is exactly what cannot happen,
this must not happen.
Can you imagine how
terrible that would be,
what a shock to the poor rhinos
having had enough
of a miserable time
and a traumatic time being
tranquilised and transported out of
its natural home for 30 years.
If that happened, oh, God!
See this is the problem.
Three tonnes of sand in there,
which is about the weight of the
rhinos, but that would...
In the Czech Republic,
Sudan, the only one
of the four rhinos to have
been caught in the wild,
is taking his first steps
back to Africa.
Up until now, Pete has avoided
giving the older rhino any drugs,
but, in readiness for the long
journey in the crate,
Pete has decided he has no option
but to give Sudan some sedation.
Everyone is keen to ensure that
the drugs aren't too much for Sudan.
Pete decides to administer
an antidote to the sedative drugs
as quickly as possible.
Now that Sudan is actually inside
the crate, the only way Pete can
reach a vein is to risk his own life
climbing inside the crate
with three tonnes of unstable rhino.
It's a little bit worrying because
Sudan was the one that everyone
thought would be easy
and was left till last, but he's
in the crate and was very doddery.
He's now leaning on one side,
legs all splayed open.
Pete's looking more worried
than he has all morning,
and we're just hoping that
he's going to come round and be OK,
but he's an old boy, 38, so he
has to be treated with great care.
So, well, it's quarter
to eight here in Kenya,
which means that it's quarter to six
so they will have taken off
and be in the air,
those rhinos and Mark.
Can't imagine what it's like.
Whereas this campfire and listening
to the sound of the night,
this equatorial noise,
bubblings and croakings
and moaning and warbling,
frogs and birds and, I think,
I heard a water buffalo somewhere.
At 4am Kenyan time,
the special flight touches down
on the runway at Nairobi.
But while the flight may be over,
for Pete, the ordeal goes on.
I mean look at this,
you have all this, all the exhaust
fumes from this vehicle,
everyone clattering around.
You've had the noise of
the vehicles coming off,
the planes coming in and out.
You've got the vehicles,
the people, it's crazy.
You know, you just keep on wondering
when are they going to say,
"Listen, that's enough,
you know, that's enough."
25 hours into the journey,
the team is exhausted,
and just hoping that all remains
well inside the crates.
That rock, out.
What's happening there?
Is that a...?
That ain't great.
That's not going to last
very long, is it? No they'll
bugger their legs on that.
You're getting an eye for Bomas.
I am I'm beginning to notice
the things that stick out.
It's like having a
child-friendly house really,
you've got to check that there
are no bits sticking out,
no bits that can scratch,
no corners that can have an eye out.
Muhammad... Sorry...
Another one there.
It's all very nerve-racking
as it's getting closer. I know.
Mark. Hello.
Oh, you're close I can almost
smell you. Oh, thanks a lot!
We're just at the entrance of Old
Pejeta. I would say you're half an
hour away if you're at the gates.
I don't suppose I could
ask a favour, could I? 'Yes, go on.'
'Do you have any coffee?'
I'll make sure
there's a pot brewing.
Poor old soul,
he's almost getting hysterical.
TRUCK HORN BEEPS
The nerves...
Are you pumping now?
Yes, it's now kicked in,
natural Red Bull.
Yes! We're going to see
a column of dust on the horizon.
I think we're going to have
one last mad rush of people...
MOBILE PHONE RINGS
Iaizack... Yes.
TRUCK HORN BEEPS
There they are, it's a huge truck!
Wow...
Stephen! Mark!
Hello. Where did you spring from,
you bugger? I couldn't find you.
I'm almost in tears at the sight
of this, it's too extraordinary.
You can't believe
they're in here, can you?
You just can't..
I don't know why I didn't pictured
them as being quite so vast.
No these are good. These are real
luxury crates for the rhino.
I've got something for you...
Have you?
You look surprisingly fresh
and cheerful. Oh, I'm so tired.
And you managed to have a
shave which is more than I did.
Oh, thank you so much. Good health.
You deserve it, I'll join you.
This is such an exciting day.
I mean, of course, yesterday
and today this whole place was...
Well, not deserted, but it
was the only local Old Pejeta staff,
and now it's a circus of gigantic
proportion. It's wonderful.
It's extraordinary.
Look how quickly they're getting at
it. They've got to move them fast,
we've been in the hot sun, you think
when they left it was minus 12.
Yes, that's a
huge contrast, isn't it?
I know, and they need to
get them out of those boxes.
Each of these boxes with the rhinos
in weighs just over four tonnes.
Oh, is it? They've been using
three-and-a-half tonnes of sand.
Oh, no,
because the rhino, I mean Sudan
and Suni are probably three tonnes,
and the crates weigh a tonne.
Oh, heck, they've
calculated for three-and-a-half.
It's a bit late now!
Oh, no, wouldn't that be awful...
They've come all this way.
Don't...
Now suddenly, for the
first time in the last 24
hours I'm feeling nervous. Yeah.
Six years of preparation
into this moment. It's unbelievable.
Here goes.
My goodness.
'But Najin's crate touches down
on African soil
with perfect precision.'
That's what we actors
call hitting your marks.
Mm.
'As Najin, the elder female,
gets her first sense of Africa,
'the team turns their attention
to Fatu, the youngest rhino
'and the least enthusiastic
about entering the crate.'
Oh, yes, there, look.
Welcome to Africa.
'For Fatu, it seems that the
thing she's missed most of all
is being close to her mum.'
Oh, that's wonderful.
Wonderful.
'The third rhino to
be released is the youngest and
the biggest of the males, Suni.
'As he entered the crate
with unexpected speed,
'Pete and the Czech keeper, Honza,
aren't taking any chances
with his leaving it.'
No hesitation there at all,
straight out, a bit of a snort.
Great result, two-thirds of the
way through, it's really marvellous.
Two-thirds of the way through?
Stephen...
Three-quarters of the way through.
That's really good news.
I must get to lie down and bathe my
temples in Eau De Cologne, I think.
It's going a little
wrong in the sun.
'But if it's all getting to me,
then there's no knowing
what it's doing to Sudan,
'the oldest of the rhinos to be
making the journey, and the only
one to have been born in Africa.
'Because he collapsed after
an injection of sedatives,
'no-one is quite sure what to expect
when the crate is finally opened.'
Everybody just move back, please.
Just pull back, please.
'But as soon as the door is opened,
we see Sudan standing,
'and looking better than a rhino
has a right to expect to
after 30 hours in a wooden crate.'
The moment he puts his foot out
will be the first time in 35 years
that he's stepped on African soil.
That's true, good gracious.
For a rhino that left Africa at
the age of three, 35 years ago,
one can't help wondering if the
smell and heat of Africa stirs
even the most distant of memories.
Oh, it's coming, he's coming...
That's that first step.
Yes, yes, yes.
He's out. He's out.
They're closing the door.
Well done, that's fantastic.
That's all four.
All four done, yeah.
Fantastic. Amazing.
It's a real achievement.
'One memory is instantly awakened
and, at the first opportunity,
this natural born grazer,
'who has lived on carrots
and rhino feed for 35 years,
'takes his first mouthful
of long, fresh grass.'
Four weeks later,
Pete and Hamish are back for the
next stage of the release.
They need to remove wild rhinos
to another part of the reservation
so that the precious Northern
Whites can be released
into the safety of their very own
800-acre rhino paradise.
Before he can be released,
Sudan needs to be sedated once again
to have a radio tracking
device inserted
and, to reduce temptation
for poachers, Pete is keen to take
the opportunity to finally
remove that horn, the quick way.
And a week after that,
Najin, as always closely
followed by her daughter, Fatu,
is the first of the translocated
rhinos to step from the enclosures
into the wilds of the reservation.
Are you ready? Come on, let's go.
Come on, girls.
Come on, love.
Good girls.
Now, everyone just has to wait to
see if Sudan, Najin, Fatu and Suni
will survive
and reproduce in the African bush.
'Six months after their great
journey, we are back.'
How are you?
'We're hoping to find the rhinos,
to see if being in Africa has begun
'to change them, perhaps even
kick-starting the urge to breed.
'But we are especially
hoping to see Sudan,
'the first northern white rhino
we saw in the zoo at Dvur Kralove.'
Let me tell you there is
nothing wrong with Mr Sudan,
he's quite up to patrolling,
looking after the area.
Plenty of lead in his pencil?
Exactly, yeah.
That's the scientific terminology!
'Berry suddenly spots
one of the rhinos.'
Oh, yes, here she comes, look. Wow.
'It's Najin, the mother of Fatu,
looking in perfect health.'
She's looking fantastic. She's
looking in really good condition.
Can you believe that's the
same rhino we saw in Prague?
No, it's a whole different...
The way the head's carried,
everything, and the way
she's smelling the grass.
And just in the expanse of
Africa, it's so fantastic,
it's so satisfying isn't it?
Totally at home.
'And then we see
that Najin isn't alone.
'But this time, it's not her
daughter Fatu following behind,
'it's a newly dehorned
and strangely dapper Sudan.'
Here he comes.
Of all the animals, he's the guy
that's looking the best, I think.
A beautiful animal. Just wonderful.
The contrast between minus 16
degrees in Prague and deep snow
and that small enclosure,
it's like a different planet.
Time for a cuddle, Berry?
It's just amazing to see them
now, isn't it, after all this time.
With females coming in season
every 70 days, and a rhino
gestation period of 16 months,
there will be no news any time soon,
but Pete is optimistic.
I can't see any obvious
problems at all, Muhammad
says there aren't any problems.
All we want is Mr Sudan to
leap on her back and produce
a few babies, you know.
Have there been any signs
that they've tried to mate?
He's certainly shown a lot of
interest, so we're optimistic
it's going to happen soon.
Hey, hello.
And this wonderful animal has
no idea that she may carry the
entire destiny of her species.
It's a heck of a thought, isn't it?
'As we are leaving, we see the other
two rhinos right by the perimeter
fence and there is a real surprise.
'Fatu, the young female who hated
being separated from her mother,
'now seems to have other things
on her mind and we find her
together with Suni, the young male.
'She may still be playing
hard to get,
'but for four of the last
Northern White Rhinos on earth,
'things are definitely moving
in the right direction.
'If that's not flirting,
I don't know what is!'
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
Carwardine took me to Africa
'in search of the critically
endangered Northern White Rhino.
'We had many wildlife encounters...'
(Just fantastic.)
'But we singularly failed
to find Northern White Rhinos...
'which a full scale survey then
declared to be extinct in the wild.
'But, sometime after filming,
we began to hear of an extraordinary
'mission to take four of the last
Northern White Rhinos in captivity
'and return them to the plains
of Africa in the hope that they
might breed and save their kind.
'It was a mission that risked the
life of people and animals alike.
'The last hope for some of
the rarest creatures on earth.'
'Every species of rhino in the
world is threatened by extinction
and the race is on to save them.'
Oh!
Holy mackerel.
'When we were last in Africa,
we saw how extreme measures
are now being taken
'to move smaller black rhinos
to re-establish breeding
populations in new areas.'
There's the helicopter over there.
'This work is turning the
corner for black rhinos.
'But for Northern Whites,
it's already too late
for this kind of help.
'Theirs is the ultimate
conservation challenge.'
Oh, God.
Once, Northern White Rhinos
roamed the grasslands of Central
Africa in their thousands.
Today, there are none.
The problem is the horn.
Rhino horn is a key ingredient of
so-called 'Chinese Medicine',
fuelling the poaching
that has depleted rhino numbers
right across the world.
Northern White Rhinos were
impossible to protect
for one simple reason.
They lived in the middle
of a long and bloody war.
Today there are just eight Northern
White Rhinos left on earth.
Two in a zoo in San Diego,
and six in a zoo at Dvur Kralove
in the Czech Republic.
Goodness knows how some
of these tropical animals
cope with frozen water.
'Unfortunately, Northern Whites
only breed well in the wild,
'and so a last-ditch attempt
is about to be made to
send some of them home.
'It's the very last chance to save
the third-largest animal on land
from imminent extinction.'
This is very...
There he is.
Oh, I say. Hello,
does he have a name or she?
This one is called Sudan.
He's a male. Right.
And erm, can you believe we're
actually seeing a Northern White
Rhino. I never thought we'd see one,
we spent all those weeks searching,
didn't we, never actually got to the
Congo where they were last seen,
and I thought that was it,
but here we are.
Hello, Sudan, Sudan!
Sudan! Oh, look, carrots and apples.
HE TAPS GATE
Here he is, hello.
Because they're notoriously
not good on eyesight, are they?
No, but they can hear us.
Hello, Sudan.
Look at that, carrot?
Oh, you do,
you definitely wanted that.
'Only five Northern White Rhinos
have ever been born in captivity,
'and Sudan has fathered three
of them, making him the first
choice for the journey to Africa.
'He was captured in Sudan
at the age of three and has
been in captivity for 35 years.'
Hi, are you Pete? Yes.
Stephen, nice to meet you.
'Vet, Pete Morkell,
has just flown in from South Africa
'to take charge of a mission
six years in the planning.
'The choice of which rhinos would
travel was conducted strictly
'on the basis of which rhinos
were most likely to breed.
'Four have been selected.
'Sudan, the only living male
to breed previously,
'Sudan's daughter Najin,
granddaughter Fatu,
'and a cousin called Suni.'
They must know something's up,
you can't help feeling
that they do know something's up.
I'm sure this doesn't happen
every day they get quite
such attention. hello!
So it must be very nerve-wracking
for you, the whole process.
Yeah, It is pretty nerve-wracking,
I try to look cool about it,
but it is nerve-wracking.
I mean although one has
experience and I've obviously
worked a lot with rhinos,
you're never know quite sure
how it's going to work out,
as big and strong as that,
you don't want him to...
to freak out at 30,000 ft
up in a plane. You want him
to be as relaxed as possible.
I remember taking some white rhino
to Albuquerque Zoo in the States,
and just we're all
floating at the zoo,
the floor fell out of the crate and
we had the rhino... Oh, no!
..his legs coming out the bottom.
'We're leaving Pete to figure out
the details of moving Sudan and
the other Northern White Rhinos.
'For Pete,
this is a huge challenge,
'and a strange turnaround for a
man who learned his craft catching
animals in the wild for zoos.'
We took some animals to zoos
about 15-20 years ago and
I didn't feel good about it.
Having done it the other way
around where you've taken it
from a huge bit of Africa,
and you've flown it across
the world and you release it
into a little concrete pen,
ten metres by ten and how terrible
you feel, I thought what the hell,
'can't we do it
the other way around,
'can't we bring some of the animals
which they have in zoos which we
don't have any more in Africa,
'or don't have a lot of,
take them back to Africa,
'and I discussed the idea
with a friend of mine,
'Hamish Currie, and it was my idea,
'but he's really took it
and ran with it.'
Off you go, you fat shlonk.
Hamish Currie and Pete Morkell
founded the organisation
Back To Africa,
and are now champions
of the controversial practise
of returning zoo animals
to their native continent.
We travelled to Swaziland
to track down Hamish Currie,
and see for ourselves how
populations of African animals
have already been re-started from
shipments of European zoo animals.
The Roan Antelope
was once common in Swaziland.
By 1960 poaching was rife
and the last individual
vanished from the country.
In 2003, Pete and Hamish
began to bring antelopes
from Marwell Zoo in the UK and Dvur
Kralove Zoo in the Czech Republic.
Now, the animals are re-habituated,
but some individuals, it seems,
will never quite
adjust to the wild.
Hello Hamish. Hi, how are you doing?
Great how are you. Welcome to
Swaziland, lovely to see you.
This is the most tame sort of
looking antelope I've ever seen.
Hello.
Yes, this is Tandiwe.
She is a zoo-born Roan,
and her parents, her mother
actually came from Marwell
Zoological Park in the UK,
so she's really English.
And was translocated here.
With roan,
their ears tell you everything.
When a Roan's ears are up,
she's a happy Roan,
and when the ears flop down,
you've got an unhappy Roan.
Mind those horns.
Yes, I don't want her to whip
your goolies off this time.
No, I'd be quite happy for
her not to do that as well.
These are powerful horns, they have
actually killed lions in the wild.
She's quite interested
in my nether regions.
There we go.
She's actually a sweet thing,
she just doesn't know her strength.
That is strong. Yeah.
OK, there we go, puppy dog.
I'm going this way. It's all right,
it's all right, keep calm.
There we go, puppy!
There we go. Hello...
Are they actually too rare
in other parts of Africa
to translocate wild animals
to bring them back to Swaziland?
Why have you chosen zoo animals
to do the translocation?
I think an important part
of this is that,
to deplete any species
where it occurs naturally
is obviously detrimental.
Especially when they're rare anyway.
Exactly, so we're identifying
the fact that we can take them
from a zoo,
where in a sense for generations
zoos have existed
just to display animals,
and now zoos have got a new meaning.
Back in the Czech Republic,
Pete has decided on a seemingly
radical, but painless procedure,
that will deter poachers intent on
getting their hands on rhino horn.
Though the process is entirely
painless, the rhinos have to be
sedated to ensure that the noise
of the chainsaw doesn't cause the
animals to fling well-meaning
keepers in all directions.
But, there's one rhino Pete
really doesn't want to sedate.
Though these animals have been known
to live into their forties,
at 38, no-one wants to take
any chances sedating Sudan.
Hello, big fella.
We try one more time, big fella.
Five days before the great journey
takes place, there has been a
spate of negative publicity.
Some parts of the Czech press
have called for the Rhinos to
remain in their adopted country,
and "expert opinion" has appeared
suggesting the animals may not even
survive the journey to Africa.
It's not a simple business
this translocation, is it?
I mean it's not like you just
tranquilise an animal and
then move it? It carries risk?
Well, this is the other worry,
of course,
as soon as you start darting
and anesthetising animals,
and putting them in crates and
release them to places
where there's all sorts of diseases
they've never come across,
then it's a huge risk and there's
a big risk that you might
lose some or all
of the individual animals you're
trying to translocate,
so that on top of everything else
is why it's controversial.
RHINOS GRUNT
With pressure mounting,
a beleaguered Pete has
called in re-enforcements.
What are you up to, eh?
Berry White is known
as The Rhino Whisperer.
'They're very misunderstood.
'It's quite sad. I suppose the
general public think of animals,'
and animals that people love and
they think of elephants and tigers,
and rhinos just get forgotten about.
Probably no animal
that's suffered in such a way.
Like nearly been eliminated in such
a short space of time as the rhino.
Having spent her life around rhinos,
Berry now specialises
in keeping animals calm through
traumatic and stressful situations.
C'mon then, Najin.
Starting with
Najin the older female, Berry has
begun a strict training regime.
At up to three tonnes,
when a rhino's patience snaps,
it can be seriously problematic.
To minimise the prospect
of rhino mayhem at 35,000 ft,
Berry wants each of the rhinos
to get used to spending time
in a very enclosed space.
There's a good girl...
there's a good girl.
'Once back in Africa,
formerly placid zoo animals
'instinctively adopt the habits
needed to survive in the wild,
'giving problems
to Hamish and his team.'
HE FIRES DART
Good shot. Very good.
Well done, right in the bum.
'In the wild, male Roan Antelopes
have been known to kill competing
males with their horns.
'But while this herd is
still un-naturally small,
'creative solutions
have had to be found to ensure
the safety of every individual.'
See the power coming
when it just leapt up. Staggering.
Nice simple technique.
'These tubes prevent other antelope
from being injured by the horns.
'Numbers are increasing and the
project has been hailed a success.'
I hope he doesn't feel silly
in his new gear.
I think he's quite fetching.
It's all right, isn't it?
That's it.
In the wild,
a female rhino might have a calf
every two or three years.
In captivity,
only five Northern White Rhinos
have been born in three decades.
This is Najin, one of the female
rhinos that will be making
the journey along with Sudan.
As the only female
young enough to reproduce,
all hope was placed with her,
and ten years ago she succeeded
in giving birth to a single calf.
The calf was named Fatu.
Now Fatu is fully grown,
and will travel to Africa
with her mother Najin,
grandfather Sudan,
and Suni, the young male.
Though Fatu and her mother are
now the only Northern White females
young enough to reproduce,
neither has successfully
done so in the last decade.
'But the team holds out hope that
transporting the animals to Africa
'will make all the difference.'
Middens that we see in front of us
here... The collection of poo.
Exactly. Is very much a territorial
activity of rhinos, and of course
every male will have his territory,
compete with females, and
it's not possible in a zoo
just due to spatial issues
for rhinos to have that ability,
and of course this affects the whole.
It's yet another
trigger inside its mind...
that sets it off
on a breading purpose.
'Hamish is taking us
to see an iconic species
'that refuses to breed in captivity,
'but here in the wilds of Swaziland,
well, it's a very different story.'
They breed so well here and it's
because they've got so much space,
and of course,
if we look at a zoo situation,
because they don't have space, the
whole social issues of how elephants
and rhinos work is different,
and I think that's one of the
main reasons, it's a space issue.
Just shows that zoos,
however well-intentioned they are,
what they can't reproduce is
the full social spectrum of activity
that is part of why big mammals
breed.
It's not just
"there's a male, there's a female,
they're bound to breed",
they need all kinds
of other triggers.
That's exactly right.
With the "Back to Africa"
concept of bringing animals,
we've got to tie up the expertise
that people in zoos
have in breeding animals,
and some animals
may breed really well,
but not forgetting nature.
Nature is also the most powerful
stimulus for that to happen.
With two days to go,
Pete is working with Suni,
the last and perhaps the most
challenging of the rhinos
to be making the journey.
We're bringing Suni out.
He's by far the biggest animal,
so we don't want too
much nonsense from him.
Now he's going to be a handful.
Oh, he will, yeah.
For Pete, the next part of the
training is the most dangerous.
When he's in the crate,
that's the only place
we can really operate from,
from behind, especially if you have
to jab them or check them out.
That's where the gap is
at the top back part of the crate,
so the more used to him
having us behind him the better.
Here he comes.
Who's a good boy? C'mon.
Hello big fella, I'm going to
quietly get to the back there.
He's very jumpy, all right.
Hello boy, hello boy.
Don't you go squashing Pete.
Hello big sausage. You're a funny
boy aren't you, there's a good boy.
Hello big sausage,
hello boy, hello sausage.
All right there,
it's OK, that's OK, son.
I guess you haven't been
behind them before in here.
I've always been in
the front with him.
All right, son.
They're always dangerous.
There was a young lad in Botswana,
he was looking after them in a pen,
and he was just trying to get
them from one pen to another
and they were really tamed down,
and he thought he'd go and stand
there at the door and waved his hat,
and the rhino came through so
quickly, he tried to run to the
other side of the second pen,
and the rhino got him, and that was
just sort of squashed him,
that was the end of him.
So erm... Hello boy,
hello boy, hello big chap,
hello big fella,
hello big fella, hello big chap.
Hello big boy, that's not so bad,
yeah, that's not so bad.
That's not so bad.
You're just a different
boy all together, aren't you?
Might have to look at those pens
in Kenya and see if they'll be
able to hold this fella.
Last year, when Mark
first brought me in search
of Northern White Rhinos,
we started our adventures
at a rhino sanctuary in Kenya.
Four hours north of Nairobi, The Ol
Pejeta Conservancy is 90,000 acres
of African wilderness,
managed by Batian Craig.
'On that first visit,
Batian introduced us to some of the
rhinos living in the conservancy.
'Now, Batian is about to
become responsible for Sudan,
'Najin, Fatu and Suni,
the most endangered rhinos on earth.
'While Mark heads back to the Czech
zoo to see how the preparations
for the journey are going,
'I am making my way to Kenya
to see how Batian is preparing
for his new arrivals.'
Phew, wow, that's hot.
Ah, Batian,
how nice to see you again.
'But on his return to the zoo,
Mark finds that the temperature
has plummeted to minus 12
'and the place has been transformed
by a scattering of snow. And there
is no sign of the rhinos.'
What's a lovely day.
Yes, it's beautiful, isn't it?
Yes, crisp and freezing cold,
but where are the rhinos?
Well, the thing is the rhinos are
not going to come out this morning
because it is too cold for them.
But that's a problem isn't it,
because don't you need every
minute you can possibly get
to train them going
through the crates?
Yeah, hopefully this afternoon
if it warms up a little bit.
'Sitting on the equator, the
Ol Pejeta Conservancy has the
perfect climate for African wildlife,
'but there was another reason it's
been selected as the new home for
the precious Northern White Rhinos.
'Ol Pejeta has excellent
security against poachers.
'The entire Conservancy is ringed by
220 kilometres of electric fence,
'patrolled 24 hours a day by Ol
Pejeta's own, fully armed, security.
'And, right at the heart of the
conservancy, Batian has hurriedly
'built a series of sturdy enclosures
for the Northern White Rhinos.'
None of this
was there a month ago.
You built this all in a month?!
Literally.
In they come, the rhinos,
and they'll look around here...
"Where on earth am I?"
'Although the Rhinos will eventually
be released into the expanses
of the conservancy,
'while they acclimatise to Africa,
they will be kept here.'
In each pen, one token bit
of Africa with a bit of grass.
Oh, just to get them,
because after all,
I mean they are grazers aren't they,
and I suppose they've got
to get used to grazing,
because in Prague I don't
think they did any grazing at all.
There's no grass there.
There's no grass in their paddocks?
I don't think so, it's hard to
tell because it was midwinter
when I visited, but it didn't
look like the kind of place
that would have grass there.
Although the temperature
hasn't risen,
Pete has decided to give the
rhinos one last outing before
the long journey in the crates.
For rhinos that will be in Africa
in less than 48 hours,
it's a strange farewell
to the Czech Republic.
Another reason Ol Pejeta
has been selected to take
the Northern Whites
is its expertise
is dealing with endangered rhinos.
For the last few years, Ol Pejeta
has specialised in conserving the
critically endangered Black Rhino
and, with 86, is now the
biggest Black Rhino sanctuary
in East Africa.
Each of the Black Rhinos
receives special attention,
but none as much as Nabur.
Oh, you're adorable.
'Nabur is an orphaned baby
that was brought to the
conservancy a year ago.
'She now has Muhammad,
a keeper, who not only spends his
days with the young rhino,
'he even sleeps next to her.
'As Muhammad has been helping
build the enclosures,
Nabur has been living here,
'and the final act of preparing
for the new arrivals
is to move Nabur out.
'But that doesn't mean
that she'll be getting
any less care and attention.'
Here we are.
this is how you feed a baby rhino,
six pints according to Muhammad.
Six pints five times a day.
Five times a day, six pints,
30 pints of this
she gets through a day,
via the "easy nurse",
as they call it.
Quite something, isn't it?
I look forward to this.
Nabur? Nabur?
Nabur. Lookie here,
look what I've got.
Look what I've got!
RHINO SUCKS ON TEAT
Oh, what a fabulous noise!
And you're eyes are opening
and closing in bliss.
HE LAUGHS
I don't think I've ever done
anything more satisfying.
You're nearly finished.
He never even stopped for a breath!
That's it, how do you do that?!
Everything! What a good girl.
Oh!
I expect a big burp now.
Now I think I can possibly
retire saying I have done everything
on this planet that is worth doing.
The next morning, Pete is up early
preparing sedation for the rhinos
before they enter the crates
for a journey that will last
almost 30 hours.
It looks like everything is pretty
much ready for the first rhino.
10 minutes to go, we've been told,
and we've also been told in no
uncertain terms, keep out of the way,
so what we've done is we've put four
little cameras along the runway here
and looking into the crate,
little minicams.
Cameraman is going to be hiding
behind some rocks in the
middle of the enclosure over there,
and when I'm given the nod,
I'm going to go racing around here
and hide behind the wall,
and hopefully be able
to see something from there,
so fingers crossed,
one of us will see what's going on.
Pete really is tense. I'm not
surprised cos there's a lot at stake,
but he's hardly talking
and barking instructions
and rushing backwards and forwards,
and obviously absolutely focused
on what he's trying to do.
(And all's silent.)
Honza is the zoo's rhino keeper.
He's been looking after the
Northern White Rhinos for 25 years,
and it's his job to lead them
into their carrying crates.
Starting with Fatu's mother Najin.
That's amazing. I think he's actually
got a rhino in the first crate.
That was so easy!
And next up is Fatu, who's the one
people were a little bit
worried about a week ago.
It's so cold I can hardly talk!
But she's been given some valium
at the moment,
and as soon as she's ready,
a crate's being prepared,
and she'll be bought out next.
So fingers crossed she
does as well as her mum.
The young Fatu is always
unpredictable when she's
separated from her mother, Najin.
As Najin has been crated first,
no-one knows what to
expect from Fatu.
This time, Pete has insisted that
Mark and the team stand to one side,
well out of sight of the rhino, to
minimise any chance of spooking her.
But almost immediately, Fatu
starts to give the rhino keepers
cause for concern.
(Fatu is not too sure, he looked
pretty good, followed the keeper.
(They're just here now,
we need to come back a little bit.)
RHINO KEEPER SPEAKS IN CZECH
After 50 minutes of coaxing
the precious rhino,
she's no closer to
getting in the crate,
and Pete is aware that the drugs
he has given her
are starting to wear off.
To keep the animal safe, and to keep
with a chance of catching the plane,
Pete decides his only option
is to revert to brute force.
But even with the full force
of six people pulling and pushing,
the two-and-a-half tonne Fatu is
determined not to enter the crate.
Although Berry is not supposed
to begin calming the rhinos
until they are on the road,
she decides to see if a
different approach is called for.
All right, angel,
all right, darling.
There we go.
Hello, love, hello darling,
how are you doing?
Come on, are you going to come in?
Come on, sweet girl, it's OK.
Hey, what's up? Fatu, come on.
Come on, sweetheart, you're
a funny girl, aren't you? Come on.
You're a funny girl, aren't you?
You're not at all scared.
Come on, then.
Come on, darling.
Come on. Come on, darling. Come on,
gently now. There's a good girl.
There's a good girl. Well done.
Right, good girl.
Steady, darling. Well done.
All right, Fatu, come on
forward a bit, darling.
There's a good girl. Good girl.
All right, Angel, all right.
All right, darling.
There's a good girl.
She's a sweetie pie.
She loves it in here.
All right, all right, lady.
All right, lady.
All right, darling. All right.
All right, darling.
Although Fatu is finally in the
crate, she is very unsettled,
and it is clear that Berry
is going to have to keep a close
eye on her throughout the journey.
Next up, I think, is Suni,
who is the one everyone's
really worried about.
But Suni,
the biggest of the rhinos,
delivers the biggest surprise of
the day and enters the crate
in a matter of seconds.
Just one more loading to go.
Hello, Stephen. 'Mark, hello.'
Hi, how are you?
I'm in the baking sun in Old
Pejeta and it's just beautiful.
Oh, it's hot and
sunny here too, actually.
'No, it's a lie,
'it's about minus ten
and it's freezing!'
We're just watching Suni
leave right now, funnily enough.
It's lovely and lush and green here
at the moment, all the water holes
are full and it's looking great.
They're going to be so astonished.
What an amazing contrast.
Just unbelievable!
I can't imagine the culture
shock that awaits them.
So is everything ready there,
is everything all set
for them in Old Pejeta?
We've got a bit of work to do
before you arrive,
we've got to go to the Bomas and
make sure that they're all
spick and span and rhino ready.
So we won't just be lazing
around in the sun, I assure you!
Hot and sunny, it's not fair.
I should have had that job!
So in the Czech Republic,
we saw the rhinos being
trained to go into the crates.
Well here we're seeing the humans
being trained, as it were,
to get this crate as smoothly as
possible into that white area there,
which is exactly the front of the
door, the gate to the Bomas where...
This is exactly what cannot happen,
this must not happen.
Can you imagine how
terrible that would be,
what a shock to the poor rhinos
having had enough
of a miserable time
and a traumatic time being
tranquilised and transported out of
its natural home for 30 years.
If that happened, oh, God!
See this is the problem.
Three tonnes of sand in there,
which is about the weight of the
rhinos, but that would...
In the Czech Republic,
Sudan, the only one
of the four rhinos to have
been caught in the wild,
is taking his first steps
back to Africa.
Up until now, Pete has avoided
giving the older rhino any drugs,
but, in readiness for the long
journey in the crate,
Pete has decided he has no option
but to give Sudan some sedation.
Everyone is keen to ensure that
the drugs aren't too much for Sudan.
Pete decides to administer
an antidote to the sedative drugs
as quickly as possible.
Now that Sudan is actually inside
the crate, the only way Pete can
reach a vein is to risk his own life
climbing inside the crate
with three tonnes of unstable rhino.
It's a little bit worrying because
Sudan was the one that everyone
thought would be easy
and was left till last, but he's
in the crate and was very doddery.
He's now leaning on one side,
legs all splayed open.
Pete's looking more worried
than he has all morning,
and we're just hoping that
he's going to come round and be OK,
but he's an old boy, 38, so he
has to be treated with great care.
So, well, it's quarter
to eight here in Kenya,
which means that it's quarter to six
so they will have taken off
and be in the air,
those rhinos and Mark.
Can't imagine what it's like.
Whereas this campfire and listening
to the sound of the night,
this equatorial noise,
bubblings and croakings
and moaning and warbling,
frogs and birds and, I think,
I heard a water buffalo somewhere.
At 4am Kenyan time,
the special flight touches down
on the runway at Nairobi.
But while the flight may be over,
for Pete, the ordeal goes on.
I mean look at this,
you have all this, all the exhaust
fumes from this vehicle,
everyone clattering around.
You've had the noise of
the vehicles coming off,
the planes coming in and out.
You've got the vehicles,
the people, it's crazy.
You know, you just keep on wondering
when are they going to say,
"Listen, that's enough,
you know, that's enough."
25 hours into the journey,
the team is exhausted,
and just hoping that all remains
well inside the crates.
That rock, out.
What's happening there?
Is that a...?
That ain't great.
That's not going to last
very long, is it? No they'll
bugger their legs on that.
You're getting an eye for Bomas.
I am I'm beginning to notice
the things that stick out.
It's like having a
child-friendly house really,
you've got to check that there
are no bits sticking out,
no bits that can scratch,
no corners that can have an eye out.
Muhammad... Sorry...
Another one there.
It's all very nerve-racking
as it's getting closer. I know.
Mark. Hello.
Oh, you're close I can almost
smell you. Oh, thanks a lot!
We're just at the entrance of Old
Pejeta. I would say you're half an
hour away if you're at the gates.
I don't suppose I could
ask a favour, could I? 'Yes, go on.'
'Do you have any coffee?'
I'll make sure
there's a pot brewing.
Poor old soul,
he's almost getting hysterical.
TRUCK HORN BEEPS
The nerves...
Are you pumping now?
Yes, it's now kicked in,
natural Red Bull.
Yes! We're going to see
a column of dust on the horizon.
I think we're going to have
one last mad rush of people...
MOBILE PHONE RINGS
Iaizack... Yes.
TRUCK HORN BEEPS
There they are, it's a huge truck!
Wow...
Stephen! Mark!
Hello. Where did you spring from,
you bugger? I couldn't find you.
I'm almost in tears at the sight
of this, it's too extraordinary.
You can't believe
they're in here, can you?
You just can't..
I don't know why I didn't pictured
them as being quite so vast.
No these are good. These are real
luxury crates for the rhino.
I've got something for you...
Have you?
You look surprisingly fresh
and cheerful. Oh, I'm so tired.
And you managed to have a
shave which is more than I did.
Oh, thank you so much. Good health.
You deserve it, I'll join you.
This is such an exciting day.
I mean, of course, yesterday
and today this whole place was...
Well, not deserted, but it
was the only local Old Pejeta staff,
and now it's a circus of gigantic
proportion. It's wonderful.
It's extraordinary.
Look how quickly they're getting at
it. They've got to move them fast,
we've been in the hot sun, you think
when they left it was minus 12.
Yes, that's a
huge contrast, isn't it?
I know, and they need to
get them out of those boxes.
Each of these boxes with the rhinos
in weighs just over four tonnes.
Oh, is it? They've been using
three-and-a-half tonnes of sand.
Oh, no,
because the rhino, I mean Sudan
and Suni are probably three tonnes,
and the crates weigh a tonne.
Oh, heck, they've
calculated for three-and-a-half.
It's a bit late now!
Oh, no, wouldn't that be awful...
They've come all this way.
Don't...
Now suddenly, for the
first time in the last 24
hours I'm feeling nervous. Yeah.
Six years of preparation
into this moment. It's unbelievable.
Here goes.
My goodness.
'But Najin's crate touches down
on African soil
with perfect precision.'
That's what we actors
call hitting your marks.
Mm.
'As Najin, the elder female,
gets her first sense of Africa,
'the team turns their attention
to Fatu, the youngest rhino
'and the least enthusiastic
about entering the crate.'
Oh, yes, there, look.
Welcome to Africa.
'For Fatu, it seems that the
thing she's missed most of all
is being close to her mum.'
Oh, that's wonderful.
Wonderful.
'The third rhino to
be released is the youngest and
the biggest of the males, Suni.
'As he entered the crate
with unexpected speed,
'Pete and the Czech keeper, Honza,
aren't taking any chances
with his leaving it.'
No hesitation there at all,
straight out, a bit of a snort.
Great result, two-thirds of the
way through, it's really marvellous.
Two-thirds of the way through?
Stephen...
Three-quarters of the way through.
That's really good news.
I must get to lie down and bathe my
temples in Eau De Cologne, I think.
It's going a little
wrong in the sun.
'But if it's all getting to me,
then there's no knowing
what it's doing to Sudan,
'the oldest of the rhinos to be
making the journey, and the only
one to have been born in Africa.
'Because he collapsed after
an injection of sedatives,
'no-one is quite sure what to expect
when the crate is finally opened.'
Everybody just move back, please.
Just pull back, please.
'But as soon as the door is opened,
we see Sudan standing,
'and looking better than a rhino
has a right to expect to
after 30 hours in a wooden crate.'
The moment he puts his foot out
will be the first time in 35 years
that he's stepped on African soil.
That's true, good gracious.
For a rhino that left Africa at
the age of three, 35 years ago,
one can't help wondering if the
smell and heat of Africa stirs
even the most distant of memories.
Oh, it's coming, he's coming...
That's that first step.
Yes, yes, yes.
He's out. He's out.
They're closing the door.
Well done, that's fantastic.
That's all four.
All four done, yeah.
Fantastic. Amazing.
It's a real achievement.
'One memory is instantly awakened
and, at the first opportunity,
this natural born grazer,
'who has lived on carrots
and rhino feed for 35 years,
'takes his first mouthful
of long, fresh grass.'
Four weeks later,
Pete and Hamish are back for the
next stage of the release.
They need to remove wild rhinos
to another part of the reservation
so that the precious Northern
Whites can be released
into the safety of their very own
800-acre rhino paradise.
Before he can be released,
Sudan needs to be sedated once again
to have a radio tracking
device inserted
and, to reduce temptation
for poachers, Pete is keen to take
the opportunity to finally
remove that horn, the quick way.
And a week after that,
Najin, as always closely
followed by her daughter, Fatu,
is the first of the translocated
rhinos to step from the enclosures
into the wilds of the reservation.
Are you ready? Come on, let's go.
Come on, girls.
Come on, love.
Good girls.
Now, everyone just has to wait to
see if Sudan, Najin, Fatu and Suni
will survive
and reproduce in the African bush.
'Six months after their great
journey, we are back.'
How are you?
'We're hoping to find the rhinos,
to see if being in Africa has begun
'to change them, perhaps even
kick-starting the urge to breed.
'But we are especially
hoping to see Sudan,
'the first northern white rhino
we saw in the zoo at Dvur Kralove.'
Let me tell you there is
nothing wrong with Mr Sudan,
he's quite up to patrolling,
looking after the area.
Plenty of lead in his pencil?
Exactly, yeah.
That's the scientific terminology!
'Berry suddenly spots
one of the rhinos.'
Oh, yes, here she comes, look. Wow.
'It's Najin, the mother of Fatu,
looking in perfect health.'
She's looking fantastic. She's
looking in really good condition.
Can you believe that's the
same rhino we saw in Prague?
No, it's a whole different...
The way the head's carried,
everything, and the way
she's smelling the grass.
And just in the expanse of
Africa, it's so fantastic,
it's so satisfying isn't it?
Totally at home.
'And then we see
that Najin isn't alone.
'But this time, it's not her
daughter Fatu following behind,
'it's a newly dehorned
and strangely dapper Sudan.'
Here he comes.
Of all the animals, he's the guy
that's looking the best, I think.
A beautiful animal. Just wonderful.
The contrast between minus 16
degrees in Prague and deep snow
and that small enclosure,
it's like a different planet.
Time for a cuddle, Berry?
It's just amazing to see them
now, isn't it, after all this time.
With females coming in season
every 70 days, and a rhino
gestation period of 16 months,
there will be no news any time soon,
but Pete is optimistic.
I can't see any obvious
problems at all, Muhammad
says there aren't any problems.
All we want is Mr Sudan to
leap on her back and produce
a few babies, you know.
Have there been any signs
that they've tried to mate?
He's certainly shown a lot of
interest, so we're optimistic
it's going to happen soon.
Hey, hello.
And this wonderful animal has
no idea that she may carry the
entire destiny of her species.
It's a heck of a thought, isn't it?
'As we are leaving, we see the other
two rhinos right by the perimeter
fence and there is a real surprise.
'Fatu, the young female who hated
being separated from her mother,
'now seems to have other things
on her mind and we find her
together with Suni, the young male.
'She may still be playing
hard to get,
'but for four of the last
Northern White Rhinos on earth,
'things are definitely moving
in the right direction.
'If that's not flirting,
I don't know what is!'
Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd