Nomads of the Serengeti (2015): Season 1, Episode 1 - Short Grass Plains - full transcript

I'm on the bank of the Mara
River where over two million

wildebeest are
gathered for an epic journey.

(Male narrator)
Jean Du Plessis is on the
trail of the great wildebeest

migration.

From the dangerous crossing
of the crocodile infested Mara

River to the plains where he
hopes to witness the largest

mass birth on the planet.

(Du Plessis)
We just arrived on
the short grass plains,

and with us arrived
this enormous herd.

The predators in the
area must be thinking,

this is christmas arriving.



(Narrator)
But unusual weather patterns
threaten to disrupt this year's

migration.

In Africa,
nothing is guaranteed,

especially for these
nomads of the Serengeti.

NOMADS OF THE SERENGETI - SEASON 1
EP - 1 - Journey to the Short Grass Plains

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It's one of the last great
wildlife habitats on earth.

At nearly the size of Belgium,
this vast and diverse ecosystem

stretches from the Masai Mara
in Kenya to the active volcanic

highlands of the
Tanzanian Rift Valley.

It is home to 70
species of large mammals.

It's a world heritage site, and
it has been named as one of the



greatest natural
wonders on earth.

This is the Serengeti.

The name Serengeti comes
from the Masaii language.

It means endless plains.

At its center is the migration,
where more than two million

wildebeest and Zebra move in
a continuous year long cycle.

Driven by two distinct rainy
seasons they follow the rains to

find the best grazing.

Where there are
millions of animals,

you are sure to find predators,
and scavengers in abundance.

They all play an important part
in this circle of life on the

Serengeti plains.

For 20 years, wildlife expert

and safari guide Jean Du Plessis

has guided clients to see
parts of the migration.

Now he plans to follow the
wildebeests from the north to

the short grass plains.

That's where the females will
drop their young in the largest

mass birth of
mammals on the planet.

But it all starts with an
incredibly treacherous river

crossing.

(Du Plessis)
I'm on the bank of the Mara
River where over two million

wildebeest are
gathered for an epic journey,

traveling more then 500
kilometers into the southern

Serengeti.

That journey starts
now in the Serengeti.

(Narrator)
What drives the
migration is rain,

For the past three months, the
rains have stayed in the north,

but come October,
there is a change,

and the storms
begin to move south,

triggering an instinct in
the wildebeest to move.

Their first major obstacle is
to cross the treacherous Mara

River.

And this morning Jean is in
the middle of the action.

(Du Plessis)
I'm following a
group of wildebeest.

This group has now grown and
this is constantly getting

bigger.

Off to my right are still
streams of wildebeest coming out

of the hills.

Last night there was a huge
amount of rain in this area,

and there was thunder showers
that's now pulling down these

wildebeests onto the river bank.

(Narrator)
This journey is their destiny,
but it is fraught with dangers.

About 250 thousand wildebeest
will die over the next year of

natural causes like
thirst, hunger or exhaustion.

And many more will die at
the hands of predators,

such as lions or crocodiles
that wait along the route.

They approach the river
crossing with caution.

They sense the lurking dangers.

But their instinct to move
is stronger than their fear.

Soon it becomes a mad rush.

Now there are
thousands jumping in.

There are over two
million wildebeest and zebra.

It will take several weeks at
many different crossing points

before they have passed.

The Mara's crocodiles hope
to get in one last feed.

(Du Plessis)
This was amazing, just towards
the end of the crossing,

there was this enormous croc
that got hold of a yearling and

literally just took the entire
head of this wildebeest in his

mouth and all of them submerged,
and that's the last we ever saw

all of them.

(Narrator)
The wildebeest migrate between
two grassland areas the Masai

Mara in the North
where they mate,

and the short grass plains in
the south where they give birth.

They will be congregating on
each grassland for approximately

three months before the rains
shift and they begin to migrate

out.

The Tanzanian side of the Masai
Mara is called the Lamai Wedge,

and it's unique because it has
an unusually high numbers of

predators in the area.

In the open grass lands,
Jean will have an easier time

spotting them.

To get there, Jean will
have to brave the river too.

But, there's a problem,
the bridge is flooded.

Just a few days earlier,
a vehicle tried to cross,

but got caught in the strong
currents and plunged into the

crocodile infested
waters stranding five men.

Despite the danger,
Jean decides to go anyway.

If he waits, the area could
clear out of wildebeest and he

will miss his best chance
to see the lions in action.

Crossing the bridge
is nerve wracking.

The trick is not to look down.

If he does, he
could begin to drift.

If he does, he
could begin to drift.

Jean's experience
serves him well.

He makes it safely
across to the Lamai Wedge.

(Du Plessis)
When looking for lions, the
easiest way to find them is to

look for these clearings
in between the herds of

wildebeests.

At this time of the morning,
they would more than likely be

moving or they are
already be on the kill,

but about an hour
or two from now,

it would get too warm and they
would be searching for shade.

But for now, we're
focusing on the plains.

I will get to a bit of an
elevation and scan with

binoculars and see if
we can pick them out.

(Narrator)
It's October and our herds are
in the midst of dealing with

their first and
biggest obstacle,

crossing the Mara River
where slippery rocks,

rough currents and crocodiles
are some of the deadly obstacles

that will claim
thousands of the animals.

The wildebeests that make it
across will continue south and

to the next phase
of the journey,

the largest mass
birthing grounds on the planet.

And Jean wants to be
there to witness the births.

Before the migration moves,
Jean wants to observe predator

behavior.

The best place to see this is in
the area north of the Mara River

known as the Lamai Wedge.

As the millions of
wildebeests cross the Lamai,

large predators
come out in force.

(Du Plessis)
When looking for lions, the
easiest way to find them is to

look for these clearings
in between the herds of

wildebeests.

But for now, we're
focusing on the plains.

I will get to a bit of an
elevation and then scan.

At this time of the morning,
they would more likely to be

moving or they are
already be on the kill.

(Narrator)
Jean is looking for one of
the clear signs of a kill,

birds of prey circling
above the Serengeti.

We're coming up on some vultures
that's sitting on a carcass of

something.

Obviously, more than
likely a wildebeest.

It looks quite fresh.

Yeah it's a wildebeest that's
been killed and it doesn't look

like hyenas.

It's more than likely
lions that had their full,

and as the sun rose, the
vultures would pick up these

kills and they came to
completely clean it off and eat

every small piece of meat.

(Narrator)
With Wildebeests kills
scattered everywhere,

Jean takes a closer look to
see what he can learn about the

predator behavior in the area.

(Du Plessis)
What I am seeing here is a clear
indication of predators that's

not very hungry.

One can see that very
small part of the rib cage

has actually been consumed.

Nice signs of
hyenas chewing this off.

But also not hungry hyenas,
because had they been hungry,

they would have eaten
this entire rib cage.

For a hyena it takes no effort
to consume thick bones such as

this.

Other things that point out to
me are the skin that remains,

the legs, and generally when
there's huge competition for

food in an area, hyenas would
come in and grab a piece of leg

and would run off, so the entire
carcass would disperse over a

very big area.

So this points out to me that
there potentially wasn't a lot

of conflict around this carcass,
because animals are not hungry.

There's food all
over this system.

I've got some
hyenas and a kill here.

It's a fresh kill.

They're all kind of
feeding quite ferociously.

There's about
five or six of them,

and a lot of them are
still kind of pups.

What's very interesting is
there's a silver backed jackal

that's constantly darting
and trying to take a bite,

but these hyenas are
having none of that.

They tend to kind
of chase him off.

But a little bit away, it seems
where the actual kill happened

is, there's some skin and
pieces of meat lying around.

There's a big group of vultures
there and the jackal that's also

focused, and there
he is coming in now.

He's getting his head right
between the legs of the hyenas.

It's an extremely brave
act for something so small,

because it will just take one
bite of a hyena to kill him.

They would tolerate him
up to a certain point,

and then there's this half
hearted attempt of chasing him

away.

Now he would just kind of
scatter away a couple of meters

and then come back
immediately again.

There's one incident when he
grabbed a big piece of skin and

I think that was
enough for the hyenas,

and then they chase him around
the bush a couple of times.

Interesting, these hyenas will
consume most of the carcass.

They've got
incredibly powerful jaws,

huge carnassial teeth.

When lions would feed on a kill,
they would not eat the bones as

much as hyenas would do that.

Most of the rib
cage is already gone.

There's so much food around.

They are fat,
very, very well fed,

and they must eat
once or twice a day.

It's easy for a hyena to
go three or four days.

This is definitely
not out of hunger.

It's purely out of greed.

Not all the predators
are hunting wildebeest.

Jean comes across another
resident of the Lamai Wedge,

a smaller species
of the cat family.

There's a serval cat here.

I can see it moving up here now.

It's a very, very
well camouflaged,

but you kind of just see It's
back moving through the grass.

It came around a corner and
there's an open clearing in

between all of these wildebeest
that indicated for me that

there's a predator around.

Now I don't think this single
serval created this clearing,

so possibly some lions here.

But this serval is
down in a drainage ditch.

He is clearly out hunting,
and in these grass lands,

there would be after
things like mice and birds,

and they have got
an incredible leap.

So they will have grass
birds, shoot up into the sky,

and they pretty much follow them
up and take them out of the air.

(Narrator) Jean pushes on.

He's working his way
up through the plains,

along the boundary of the
resident pride's territory.

(Du Plessis)
There's a lioness in the
rocky outcrop in front of me.

This is a perfect place for a
pride of lions to be hanging out

on these plains.

It's full shady, but it's also a
great natural observation point.

I'm just trying to, it's
extremely rocky so I'm trying to

get a bit closer and
see what they're up to.

There they are.

They are quite relaxed.

These must be
very well-fed lions.

The flip side of course is when
the migration moves out and the

grasses are tall.

It is extremely hard
for lions to make a kill.

She's lying down.

This is an old female.

I can see her
ears are all tatty.

Very dark, black nose.

I can see two of them, and
that's also a female and she's a

bit younger.

(Narrator)
It's getting towards midday and
Jean is not seeing any predators

on the hunt.

In this heat, it's likely that
the predators are doing their

hunting early in the
morning when it's still cool.

So Jean decides to go back
to camp and start again early

tomorrow when he hopes the
lions will be on the prowl.

So he heads back across the
still flooded bridge to camp for

the night.

The following morning,
he starts out at sunrise.

Within minutes, he gets lucky, a
pride of lion has made a kill.

(Du Plessis)
These guys are a resident pride.

They're living
fairly close to camp.

They must be the most fortunate
lions on the Serengeti at the

moment having the entire
migration moving through.

Every wildebeest in the area
kind of moved past here on these

shorter grass when the only
thing they need to do just lie

up in this drainage area, and
it's literally littered with

carcasses.

They are on a carcass of
a wildebeest right now.

Right now only the
cubs are feeding.

There's quite a few
cubs, two different ages,

around 4-6 months.

These cubs are now turning
feeding into a bit of a game.

They are constantly trying to
pull the carcass away from the

rest of the group.

It's also a good
practice for later in the life.

(Narrator)
Living on the Serengeti is a
mixed blessing for the lions.

During the migration the
resident prides eat well,

but once the
wildebeest have left the area,

the lions have to
survive on leaner times.

The never ending cycle of the
wildebeest migration on the

Serengeti is a story of
instinct and survival.

Wildlife expert and safari
guide Jean Du Plessis has been

watching the most
spectacular part of the journey,

the mass crossing
of the Mara River.

As deadly as predators are, the
river poses a greater danger to

the wildebeest.

It's fast flowing currents can
sweep a wildebeest down stream,

or if the herds choose
a bad crossing point,

hundreds of the animals can die.

Jean is with a herd in trouble.

(Du Plessis)
This is like worst-case
scenario.

This is a very bad
place for them to cross.

The far side is kind of piling
up with bodies and then these

guys down below just can not get
out of the river because of all

of this exit being
congested by dead animals.

As far as I look down the river,
there's just bodies drifting all

the way down, and that's
going to get trapped down in the

rapids, a bit lower down,
and there's still hundreds of

thousands of wildebeests coming
in behind me waiting to cross

here.

(Narrator)
And for the young and
adolescents wildebeest in the

herd, crossing the Mara
is especially dangerous.

(Du Plessis)
For an adult wildebeest, it's
one thing to cross a high fast

flowing river like this, but
it's a massive challenge for the

younger ones.

In February-March this year, a
lot of new wildebeest were born,

so they have made the journey up
in the Masai Mara and they have

crossed a much lower river.

So they went into the Mara
and now suddenly they're coming

back, facing these
massive currents,

and that's a huge challenge for
an animal that's not even a year

old yet.

The majority of the carcasses
that I can see here are actually

yearlings, are these young ones
that just could not get through

this deep a river.

Also, by the time a wildebeest
calf reach about this stage,

they are more than likely
separated from their mother.

So they form these little
groups or herds of calves,

and a lot of the times you will
have a yearling herd getting

cross by themselves, and
that can be catastrophic for an

entire herd like that if they
hit a river that is flowing as

fast and deep as this right now.

And you can see, there's like
hundreds of vultures and storks

that's kind of sitting on top
this island and is now eating

these dead animals.

These vultures are the clean
up crews of the Serengeti and

without them it would clearly
just be a mess of rotting bodies

Big groups of vultures like
this can consume thousands of

kilograms of meat in one day.

So they form a crucial part
in the cleaning up of the

Serengeti.

It is very difficulty for
vultures to actually tear up the

skin of this tough wildebeest,
so they have to wait for the

bodies to party decompose.

Luckily, we are sitting a little
bit up wind of all of this,

because it must smell incredibly
bad as you go down wind from

this.

(Narrator)
The crossing was
catastrophic for this group,

but what is bad for one
species is good for another.

Although scavengers like
vultures sometimes get a bad

rap, the work they do is
of vital importance to the

Serengeti.

If all these
carcasses were left to rot,

the entire eco system would be
in danger of contamination from

diseases that go
along with the rot.

Vultures feed on
dead meat or carrion.

They can strip a
carcass in a few hours.

Surprisingly, it's not
lions that eat the most meat,

but vultures.

The birds eat 70 percent
of the meat on the plains.

There are five different kinds
of vultures on the Serengeti.

These are the
Ruppell's Griffon vultures,

identified by white streaked
feathers and yellow beaks.

These vultures don't
make their nests in trees,

They lay their eggs on cliffs.

The vultures congregate in an
area several hours southeast

of the Mara River.

It's Masai territory, and Jean
is going to meet with a Masai

guide who will take him to the
cliffs where these birds make

their nests

(Du Plessis)
This gorge is called Ol
Karien gorge and this is one

of very few breeding sites
for these Ruppell's Griffon

vultures.

These cliffs behind me are white
with their droppings and they

must have used this area to
breed for thousands of years.

It's the ideal nesting site for
them because it's not entirely

flat cliffs.

There's hundreds of these little
ledges that makes the perfect

nesting site, and the nest
really isn't much more than a

couple of rough
sticks thrown into a heap,

and that's where the
female will lay her eggs.

This couple will pair up for
the breeding season and form a

monogamous pair and together
they would raise the chicks.

What's quite amazing about these
vultures are that they need to

make daily excursions into
the Serengeti plains to feed.

At the moment when the migration
is down here in the short grass

plains, it might only
be about 50 kilometers,

but as the migration moves
northwards later on in the year,

it can be hundreds and hundreds
of kilometers in a return

journey for them to go feed
and come back to their chicks.

It's interesting how they
handle these huge journeys.

It's not like they fly
away and flap their wings.

They would shoot up immediately
from here into this high thermal

all around this
gorge, it's extremely hot,

so very effective thermals
taking them thousands of feet up

in the sky, and they basically
glide down into the area where

the migration would be
at that time of year.

(Narrator)
These vultures are the highest
flying birds in the world.

They soar at an altitude
as high as a jumbo jet.

(Du Plessis)
There's huge amount of vultures
around there's feathers lying

all over this gorge and I
have picked up two here.

This one here is a secondary
feather and this is a primary.

These primaries are going
at the edges of the wings,

and that's what create a lift
for the bird when they flap

their wings.

And it's the secondaries that
will keep the bird in the sky,

where they are actually
soaring up in these thermals.

The reason that birds do
preening is they fix their

feathers, where they bring these
together and they stick them

like velcro, and this will
create the solid platform for

them to get up in the sky.

The Ruppell's Griffon vulture
is one of the biggest birds in

Africa.

It's the second largest vulture,

only rivaled by the
Nubians or Lappet-faced vulture.

This is now where the gorge
narrows and when there's flash

floods, this must
be pretty deep.

Quite incredible to think that
this gorge has been here for

hundreds of thousands of years,
and we are very close to the

cradle of man, Olduvai Gorge.

So some form of hominids must
have been walking through here,

getting water in the dry season,
probably for the last

hundred thousand years.

I'm quite a bit up
into the gorge now.

This is one of the main reasons
this gorge is so important to

the Masai.

There's always year round water
in the forms of these pools and

puddles, that they can bring
their livestock and to drink

from.

They're collecting this water
to now take back to the village.

This is pretty much the main
purpose of a donkey is that they

can carry water out of such hard
places down to the village.

Apparently, this water up here
is more for human consumption,

and the water down
below will be for donkeys.

(Narrator)
It's now been three months since
the herds finished the most

dangerous part of the trip,
the crossing of the Mara River.

All throughout the 3-month leg,

the wildebeest have had
to contend with predators.

It is a war of attrition, but
the first herds have made it

through and begin to
push out of the woodlands.

The wildebeest are now heading
to the Southern short grass

plains where perhaps the most
important event of the annual

migration takes place.

This is where the females
give birth to more than 200,000

young over a three week period.

It is the largest mass
birth on the planet,

and a spectacle that
Jean does not want to miss.

(Du Plessis) Incredible!

We've just arrived on the short
grass plains and with us are

arriving this enormous
herd of wildebeest,

and they're all funneling
through this gully right now.

In the other side of he plain
must be tens of thousands of

wildebeest.

The roads are clearly very wet
meaning there must have been a

big thundershower
here last night,

and that's the driving
force for the migration.

There's very little
instincts in these guys.

It's all about
following the rain,

and this is where
it's raining right now.

So last night they must
have seen the thunder,

smelled the rain and the water,
and this is why they are moving

into this area.

And this is generally what pulls
the wildebeest from the north to

the south, are these
thundershowers that move from

the north down into this area.

The grasses here are fantastic.

Right now I am not seeing any
young calves with them which is

great for us, because giving
us some great opportunity to

potentially witness a birth.

But some of these females are
looking very round and ready to

pop.

I'm certain in the next
week we will see some births.

(Narrator)
Now just being on the short
grass plains does not guarantee

Jean will be able to
stay with the herds.

There are
millions of wildebeests.

But they can move fast.

The entire wildebeest herd
can completely vacate an area

overnight.

There are some parts of
the park that are off limits

to tourists, including Jean.

If the wildebeest go
into one of these areas,

Jean would miss the
entire calving season.

Jean has decided to base
himself at Sanctuary Camps

in a spectacular area
known as Kusini.

From the camp, he'll have the
perfect vantage point to keep

his eye on the migration.

Its central location should keep
Jean in striking distance when

they begin dropping their young.

But even the best thought out
plans are subject to approval

by Mother nature.

Today things are not
looking good for Jean.

A massive storm is rolling in
fueled by a tropical storm off

Tanzania's coast.

(thunder claps)

An entire month's rain
falls overnight

on the short grass plains,
turning the entire area

into a swamp.

The rains have triggered
the herds to move again,

but the heavy dump has
created a major problem.

Reports say the roads are
impassable and that vehicles are

stranded all over the plains.

If he waits, he could
lose track of the herds.

So Jean decides to
brave the conditions.

He realizes quickly this
is going to be a tough day.

Jean is driving on black
cotton soil which behaves

a lot like ice.

(Du Plessis)
Key is to keep
your car moving.

(Narrator)
If he stops, he won't have the
traction to get moving again.

(passengers in back seat)
There we go, there we go.

(Du Plessis) Hooya!

Not good.

Not good at all.

However we have a
hyena to our right.

That's not going to
help us much right now.

(engine revving)

Next thing is to try and dig
out these pockets so we can make

ourselves a little
bit of a runway.

Ideally it would be nice to find
some wood to now put in front of

the tire and we just need to
get moving again and get that

momentum.

(Narrator)
Jean has to dig out each tire.

He lines the ruts with grass
hoping it will give him enough

traction to get
back on the road.

(Du Plessis)
I think we'll just stick
with the motto of momentum.

Probably get
stuck down the road,

track.

We can't really call
this a road can we?

Woo hoo!

(Narrator)
Wildlife expert Jean Du Plessis
is following the wildebeest

herds as they travel through
the Serengeti on their year long

migration.

They are just days away from the
most important event in their

yearly migration, where the
wildebeest females give birth to

200,000 young over a
two to three week period.

It is the largest mass
birth on the planet.

A massive rain storm
swept through the area,

flooding the short grass plains.

With the rain, the
wildebeests have moved out.

Jean is in the area called Moru
Kopjes where he hopes to see the

mass births.

While he waits for the
advancing herds to arrive,

he has time to explore
the area's unique geology.

(Du Plessis)
This area is known
as Moru Kopjes,

and the word kopjes is really a
dutch word that refers to these

rocky outcrops.

That's such a prominent
feature all around us.

What it really is, is a
fault line in the rift,

and as the rift
was splitting apart,

you have all this
magma pushing through,

trying to get to the surface,
but actually solidifying quite

deep under the ground,
cooling down quite slowly,

making these
incredible boulders.

And now many years later on, you
have the surfaces eroding away

and starting to expose the top
of these intrusive igneous rocks

and it makes very nice
refuge for things like lions.

(Narrator)
Moru is home to an unusually
high number of lion prides.

And in no time he finds the
resident pride which is headed

by two dominant males.

(Du Plessis)
This pride of lions have four
young cubs that's about two

to three months old.

Right until now, it's has
been extremely quiet in terms of

prey, so it must have been a
hard going for this pride to

even get these cubs
to be two months old.

Soon It's going to be like a
massive party on their doorstep

all the time with these millions
of wildebeests pushing into

these plains.

(Narrator)
In spite of the 'king of
the beast' reputation,

territories are actually
controlled by the females.

They're the ones who
create the social structure,

raise the cubs, and do
most of the hunting.

Prides have as many as five
or six females and their cubs.

(Du Plessis)
This is possibly the best time
for lions to have cubs here in

the Southern Serengeti.

All around the southern plains
are drying out and here in Moru

Kopjes are the last
areas with green grass,

and about in a week's time you
will have all these herds of

wildebeest pushing
into Moru Kopje,

making it extremely easy for
these lions to kill something

and have a
constant source of food.

(Narrator)
While the territory is
controlled by the females,

the prides are
controlled by the males.

In the key areas, it takes more
then one male to hold a pride.

That is known as a coalition.

This pride is controlled by a
coalition of two strong males.

Part of their job is to defend
their pride from being taken

over by nomadic male lions.

As the wildebeest migration
moves in providing an abundant

supply of food, nomadic
males come in as well,

following the food,
and ready for a fight.

Males are forced out when
they're about two years old.

They are looking to establish or
take over a pride of their own.

And for a lion, there is no
better place than Moru Kopjes.

The following
Morning, Jean is out early,

and immediately finds a serious
threat to the resident pride.

(Du Plessis)
I just came across
three nomadic male lions.

They seem to be about
three years of age.

They've got a
scruffy smallish mane,

but they are huge in body.

They obviously made
a kill last night,

and this guy is
carrying his dinner.

It's a wildebeest, no
it's a young zebra.

Yeah it's a small zebra.

What's interesting is that when
there's three and more males

together in a coalition that
they will always been related.

So they are definitely brothers,
and even when you look at them,

they seem to be
exactly the same age;

same size manes.

(Narrator)
Usually a three-year old male
is too young to challenge the

dominants.

But Jean thinks this
trio is ready for a fight.

(Du Plessis)
Already by walking around
like this in the open is brave.

A nomadic lion theoretically
is always sneaking through the

territory of a
dominant male in some way.

And that dominant male is
constantly looking out for

guys like this to
come beat and up.

Generally, a lion will be
dominant in the pride when it's

about age five or six even,
but three big brothers like this

will more than likely be able to
overthrow all the males in the

pride when they are only
four or four and a half.

These guys are so powerful that
they might dominate a couple of

prides of females, especially
like in area like Moru Kopjes

where you've got so much
diversity and landscape.

There's quite a few prides of
females in a fairly small area,

and they can quite easily become
dominant over two or three

prides of females,
making them, of course,

very powerful.

It's rare in the Serengeti that
the male lion gets much older

than 10 at a push 12, and it's
quite common that a lion in a

zoo can reach age 20, 25.

There's even a lion in
Germany in a zoo that's age 40.

But out here in the wild where
they need to really work for a

life, that cuts a few
years off their lives.

(Narrator)
When a new male
takes over the pride,

he kills all the cubs to
make room for his own.

With these cubs
already a few months old,

the females are counting on the
two males for the survival of

the pride.

If the three males challenge,
it will be a long night in

Moru Kopjes.

After a noisy night, Jean
heads out before sunrise.

He's greeted by an
incredible sight.

(Du Plessis)
Where did they
come from so quickly?

I'm out here on the short grass
plains and overnight hundreds of

thousands of
wildebeest just appeared.

Yesterday there was very
little around and today suddenly

they're everywhere.

I mean as far as
the eye can see,

it just looks like pepper.

There's hundreds
of thousands even.

(Narrator)
This is good news for Jean.

For a while, it looked like the
wildebeest herds were heading

towards protected
land that is off limits.

It would mean that he would
not be able to witness the mass

births.

(Du Plessis)
Our objective still is
to find a female giving birth.

Right now there are
no calves around,

which is a very
good sign for us,

because once the calving starts,
it's a very rapid process and

these females will all be
dropping their calves to I guess

flood the market.

There will be too many calves
for predators to take advantage

of.

Jean is not the only one
out cruising the herds.

He finds the
dominant male lions,

but by the looks of them, there
was an epic battle during the

night.

They are both
beaten up quite badly.

The one have a real messed up
eye and the other one have quite

a bad limp.

(Narrator)
They may look badly injured, and
They've lost a lot of fur around

their manes, but they seem to
have won the fight against the

nomadic males.

(Du Plessis)
If a dominant male would
get injured in the fight.

He's extremely fortunate to
be dominant inside a pride,

because these females will
continue to hunt and he can

benefit from their efforts
and the food that they catch.

There's five lionesses
walking through the herd.

This is kind of classic
lion hunting behavior in the

migration is they are looking
for anything that might be

injured, that's
just easy picking,

and it's almost like why expel
any energy if you don't have to.

We are in the calving season and
generally female wildebeest will

give birth before 10
o'clock in the morning,

and obviously when that
baby is born it's very,

very vulnerable.

So these lions are
kind of fanned out.

Certainly they're looking for a
female giving birth or a young

one that was just born.

So these lions
didn't make a kill.

But they are not very well fed,
so they will definitely have to

hunt within the next 12 hours,
probably later this afternoon

when it cools down again, and
I suspect now they are heading

into one of the kopjes where
the wildebeest will also need to

drink during the day, and they
are probably going to lie up

there and hope for a
better chance later.

(Narrator)
Wildlife expert Jean Du Plessis
has been following the great

wildebeest migration since
October when the two million

animals made their deadly and
dangerous crossing of the Mara

River where thousands died.

It's now February,
and the survivors

have made it to the short grass
plains where the females are

about to give birth.

It is a true phenomenon
of the natural world,

the largest mass
birth on the planet.

(Du Plessis)
We just got a call from one of
our drivers saying he is with

two wildebeests
that are giving birth.

So we are just trying
to race to get there,

because once it's started, it's
quite quick for it to happen.

It's interesting that wildebeest
will only give birth up until

about 10 o'clock in the morning,
because the baby will need the

rest of the day to get strong
to be running by nightfall and

escaping predators.

(Narrator)
Jean makes it to the area to
where his guide and clients have

a front row seat.

(Du Plessis)
We just passed a female with
a leg sticking out of her,

so there's a birth
about to happen.

So she has found a flat patch
and she is just kind of circling

around.

They tend to prefer an area that
doesn't have a huge amount of

tall grass.

She has chosen the safety of the
herd to give birth for obvious

reasons.

There is this young calf coming
out who is extremely vulnerable.

Hyaenas, lions, and all kinds of
predators are out on the prowl

at this time of the morning, and
they are keeping a watchful eye

out for something
just like this.

Yeah. It's going to
happen any moment now.

There you go, she just stood
back up and that's like having

gravity help her, but
then there the baby drops.

Incredible.

She is just coming around,
sniffing on the baby now.

It's amazing how
quickly this all happens.

Now it's about 5-10 minutes
and the baby is starting to move

around a bit more.

It's kind of trying to stand up,
pushing it up on his hind legs,

but very off-balance still.

This young guy will be ready
to go in the next five minutes.

Ten minutes later,
ready to run with his mum,

because now hyenas are really
watching for young calves just

falling over like that, and they
would be here in a flash if they

can see it.

There you go.

A new generation
starting all over.

In a few months time, this baby
would even be strong enough to

start up the migration up north
and by July-August even cross

the Mara River.

It's incredible to think that
that little thing just born

there, so helpless, in six
months time will be crossing

huge rivers full of crocodiles
that's like 12-13 feet long,

and besides that, of course,
they also have to travel 400

kilometers to get there
through hyena and lion infested

savannah.

(Narrator)
For just over three months, Jean
has been following the first leg

of one of the greatest journeys
in nature: the wildebeest

migration.

From the crossing of the
Mara River to the mass birthing

grounds, the millions of
animals are in constant motion.

Their movement is crucial
to the Serengeti ecosystem.

Everything in it
thrives off of their impact,

from the grasses, insects,
to the birds and predators,

everything is connected,
defining the circle of life

on the Serengeti.