Elephant

The Kalahari Desert in Southern Africa

is one of the driest places on Earth.

But every year, one river flows down from the mountains

and transforms the heart of this desert.

A vast green oasis rises from the dust.

The Okavango Delta has been filling, emptying, and refilling for millennia.

And every plant and animal that has ever lived here

has danced to the rhythm of this great seasonal cycle.

Like blood through arteries, the water sustains all life here.

But one animal

is especially connected to the water.

These Kalahari elephants spend most of the year searching for food and water.

So, for them, flood season in the Delta is an especially joyous time.

This is a side of elephants we rarely see.

A 40-year-old female watches over the herd.

Shani is the oldest and wisest, after her sister, the great matriarch.

This puts her next in line to be the leader.

It will be a big responsibility when the time comes.

For now, though, she has her hands full trying to raise her one-year-old son.

And this kid is a handful.

Meet Jomo, one of the youngest of the herd.

At this impressionable age, with so many different types of animals to play with,

it's not entirely certain he even knows he's an elephant yet.

He can't leap through the air, so he's probably not a lechwe.

But a baboon... now, that looks more like it.

They're not buyin' it, though.

Let's just say Jomo has a lot to learn about being part of the herd.

For elephants, family is everything.

In this tight-knit group, someone always has your back.

And that's usually Gaia, Shani's sister.

She's the matriarch.

A position earned through age and wisdom.

Where she leads, the herd follows.

Almost everyone here is related to Gaia.

Sisters, cousins, daughters, grandkids.

The older boys, they leave home in their early teens

to seek their fortunes elsewhere.

But they'll return occasionally to visit Mom.

And to show the younger boys, like Jomo, how to cause trouble.

Gaia knows the Delta is drying

and that soon she will have to lead her family away from here

on a quest for food and water, until the flood returns and so can they.

These are the last elephants on Earth

still able to make these epic migrations over thousands of miles

as their ancestors did.

For many, the trip will be new and exciting, but also perilous.

Much will depend on Gaia's experience

and the wisdom handed down from generations of elephants.

Every year, the journey is challenging...

but this year, it will change all of their lives.

Two months later, the water is receding, and paradise is turning to dust.

Jomo leads the charge to water.

The Delta has become a series of vanishing pools,

and these last drinking holes are great places to meet up

with other families from the neighborhood.

Social life is like oxygen for these elephants.

And they embrace it face-first.

Shani has already lost track of Jomo.

There he is!

He's, um...

What is he doing?

The older elephants all know this could be the last easy water for many months,

so they're going to make the most of it.

It's time for a pool party!

When Jomo's over-stimulated, he can get a little...

excitable.

There.

At least these guys are more his size.

Well, that's turned most of the drinking water to mud.

Mud is useful to elephants, though.

It acts as sunscreen and they even eat it to help with... stomach issues.

Oh, dear.

Ugh, who did that?

But the mud has a dark side.

It's becoming dangerously sticky.

Gaia's anxious and calls time out on the mud pool.

Jomo barely makes it out.

But a young male calf is stuck and suffocating.

The matriarch rushes to help.

He isn't Gaia's calf,

but she knows he will die if she can't lift his face from the mud.

And she's the only one with experience of this.

His head is up. That's the first step.

His mother is distraught,

but knows if anyone else goes in,

it will disturb the mud and make things worse.

Even for Gaia, this is challenging.

She keeps the calf's head high

and removes mud from his mouth and trunk so he can breathe.

Clearing the airways will buy time.

Gaia looks to Shani to help calm the calf's mother.

The calf is exhausted, and his legs are deeply stuck.

But Gaia has a plan.

If she can just dig a big enough escape route through the mud,

the calf might be able to walk out on its own.

Shani couldn't have a better mentor.

Gaia never gives up and will never leave family behind.

This matriarch is a force to be reckoned with.

And a powerful role model for the entire herd.

Gaia has seen the Delta dry out like this

for every one of her 50 years and recognizes the signs.

She knows it's time to leave.

The memories of all the journeys she's ever taken are stored in her mind.

All the pathways and the food stops.

The landmarks and the dangers.

She'll need them all to navigate these unpredictable lands.

Gaia leads the herd into the baking Kalahari.

It seems madness!

But if she waits, the water holes they will need on their journey

will dry up before they can reach them.

And they'll be unable to cross the desert.

The family joins the mass exodus of animals leaving the Delta.

They're setting out on a thousand-mile round trip.

One that could take up to eight months.

After four days of travel, Gaia leads them to a shaded woodland,

where she remembers there are seedpods to eat.

But there's an unexpected surprise.

Distant relatives.

Part of the clan Gaia's family hasn't seen for over a year.

They're also making a pit stop on their own journey.

It's a wonderful chance to catch up with old friends,

and maybe make some new ones.

For Jomo, this could be the beginning of a life-long friendship

and a valuable connection to a whole new side of his family.

Emotional bonds between elephants are as strong and as long-lasting as our own.

Shani reconnects with a cousin she hasn't seen in ages.

They talk to each other with deep rumbling sounds that work at close range...

And travel great distances through the ground.

But nothing is more bonding than touch.

All right, they've said their hellos.

They came here for lunch.

The old tree-shaking technique produces...

one pod.

Well, that won't feed the herd.

Shani's a master tree shaker.

Hmm... No luck.

Looks like this food stop is a bust.

Wait a minute!

Who's this guy?

He's come to visit his mom in the other family.

A magnificent bull, and he's got a trick up his sleeve.

Oh, he's gonna win a lot of friends with this party trick.

Everyone loves these pods.

Jomo's found a role model.

Someday.

These pods are just what Gaia and the family need.

High energy food to keep them going on the long road ahead.

Shani feels some new rumbling vibrating the ground beneath her feet.

Low-frequency sounds.

Far lower than humans can hear.

They're messages from elephants on the road ahead.

Time to move on.

In front of them is an astonishing network of circles and lines

that stretch across the desert to the horizon.

The mysterious lines are ancient elephant paths.

The circles are water holes that collect and hold rain for a few months,

until it evaporates.

Some holes contain just enough drinking water

for the family to refill and travel to the next one.

But others are too far apart.

And some will be empty.

The holes with water are the stepping stones

the family will need on their week-long journey to cross this desert.

And linking them together is like solving a riddle

that requires many years of experience.

After a day marching under the beating sun,

the family is desperately thirsty.

Shani and Jomo rush to the water hole,

hoping to drink some clean water before it gets muddied up by everyone.

Empty.

Shani can still smell water, but it's far underground.

Jomo will stay thirsty.

But there's another smell on the wind.

Unusual, yet vaguely familiar.

Shani is distracted from her thirst.

An elephant must have arrived here about a year ago,

desperate for water, but finding none.

This is a reminder of the stakes.

The riddle of the water holes is no game.

The bones are blasted by sand and bleached by sun.

But Shani still seems to recognize the elephant they came from.

Perhaps it was a relative.

Or perhaps it was an elephant she met only once.

And it's true that elephants never forget.

Jomo was only born around the time this elephant died.

Shani passes him a bone as if trying to teach him something.

Elephants seem to have a deep connection to their past,

and a reverence for those who've gone before them.

There's so much ground to cover.

Whether it takes one day or two will depend on speed...

and Gaia taking the most direct route to the next water hole.

There's no margin for error now.

So many new wonders for the young ones to see on their first safari.

Jomo's been starved for playmates on this long trek.

He would love to play with this cute little cheetah cub.

But maybe not while Mom's around.

At last, an encouraging sign.

Carmine bee-eaters nest near rich insect life

so they can feed their chicks.

It's a sign to Gaia that the herd must be getting close to water.