Many tales have been told of Africa...
..but this is our story.
A drama set in the heart of our world...
..experienced as we live and breathe it.
So far, we've endured a devastating drought...
..confronted the elements...
..seen epic battles and acts of heroism...
..and watched fire lay waste our land.
This is the final chapter
in our story of a place they call Serengeti.
Fire has ravaged our land...
..as it has since the dawn of time.
But many survived the inferno.
Shani escaped with her foal...
..but a long trek to fresh pasture lies ahead.
The baboons are refugees...
..but at least Cheka has her adopted baby.
Bakari saved them from the flames...
..but he's still an outcast.
The wild dogs were the first to run.
But just when their pups must learn to hunt,
their hunting grounds are gone.
Kali, too, escaped - but one of her cubs is lost.
As she longs for him,
we long for the one thing that might save us all.
Lightning lit the flames.
Now, it signals rebirth.
A deluge as powerful as life itself.
Streams swell to rivers.
Soon, floods quench our land.
From the ashes,
water gives life.
And our land is reborn.
It's a moment to relish, a time for young to learn,
before drought and hunger return.
Nalla's baby is discovering more each day.
Yet some lessons can never be planned for.
To reach the lush new growth means crossing the swollen river.
Her baby's feet can't even touch the bottom.
In the raging torrent, Nalla struggles to reach him.
The whole family must work together.
But he slips from their grasp and is swept downstream.
Even the mighty struggle to fight this current.
Nalla knows these rapids well.
The only way to save him is from the land.
His only hope - the bank of the river...
..and the determination of his family.
While he recovers his strength,
the whole family will wait.
He will learn from his brush with death.
Our land's rebirth is also a chance for learning.
For a short while, there's plenty of time to practise.
Kike's cubs are now on the brink of adulthood...
..but they still rely on their mother...
..and are as playful as ever.
But they're getting bigger and hungrier.
Kike will soon struggle to feed them.
She must prepare them for a life without her.
Her daughter is the keener student...
..much more focused than her brothers.
Cheetah mothers are lone parents...
..and lone providers.
One day, her daughter will be a mother, too.
So, she watches everything her mother does.
It's her daughter who practises the stranglehold...
..the one that subdues.
Kike can't provide for three full-grown cubs much longer...
..but they've yet to prove themselves.
And they have so little time.
Bakari exiled himself from his troop after falling out with their leader.
But what has become of Cheka and the baby he left behind?
In the distance, a troop is calling.
To reach them, he must brave the swollen river.
But he's not out of danger yet.
He may have survived this encounter,
but soon he must face the troop he was forced to leave.
In the fire, Kali's family was attacked by the black-maned males -
intent on taking over her pride.
She lost her sister and one of her cubs, too.
But in our land, there are few certainties.
Miraculously, her sister and her family survived the fire.
Kali won't have to grieve for her cub alone.
In fact, she won't have to grieve at all.
He escaped the fire with Kali's sister.
Against all odds, her family is reunited once more.
In the fire, all our lives were disrupted.
Bakari's troop were displaced
and their reckless leader brought them to leopard territory.
Bakari may have survived the leopard,
but will his luck desert him just when he needs it most?
Will his troop accept him back?
Will the leader try to kill him?
It's Cheka.
They became close when they raised an orphaned baby together.
Their affection is as deep as ever.
For a few stolen moments, they're family once more.
But what of the leader?
And what of the leopard?
In our land, the powerful deal retribution to the powerful.
The leader who showed so little mercy to others
finally had no mercy shown to him.
With the land reborn,
the wild dog pups are honing their hunting skills.
To survive when the drought returns, they must learn fast.
Their father, Jasari, must switch from provider to teacher.
They've cornered a waterbuck.
Now they must work out what to do with it.
They surround it, just as their father taught them.
But Jasari would never hunt in water.
It's the waterbuck's domain.
Here, he has all the advantage.
Knowing when to accept defeat
is as important as knowing when to pursue.
The lessons of survival are as old as time.
Teaching our young to learn is the responsibility of us all.
Some, though, never gain the chance to nurture their young to adulthood.
A giraffe is facing the unexplained death of her baby.
She has guarded his body for days.
But all around, life goes on.
Knowledge is being passed down to the next generation.
Kike brought her cubs to the brink of adulthood...
..but are they ready to fend for themselves?
Today, Kike must test them.
Her daughter has learned to stay back.
The brothers now follow her lead.
Kiki hasn't harmed the fawn.
She has a plan.
Her cubs must master chasing...
..and tripping.
But this lesson has an observer -
the bereft mother.
Here is no place for bloodshed.
The fawn's mother is spared the grieving...
..and the giraffe returns to her vigil.
The wild dog pups are learning well.
But in our land, catching a meal is not enough -
you have to keep it, too.
Jasari teaches them what to do.
He plays the role of a hyena.
The giraffe's vigil is disturbed once more.
But the wild dogs will not be moved.
THUNDER RUMBLES
LIGHTNING STRIKES
The rains may refresh and renew,
but, soon, the good times will end
and the lean times return.
Lessons must resume quickly.
A hare would be perfect.
This is not for Kike.
It's for her cubs to show what they've learned.
Success.
A landmark on their path to independence.
Their reward - the fruits of their own labour.
Tembo has also had a triumph of his own.
Despite struggling since leaving his mother's care,
he survived the fire.
The friend he made at the water hole is with him.
When males have to leave their family,
they only have each other for company.
Tembo's friend is from a gang of males
who also outgrew their families.
But will they accept a newcomer?
Tembo was forced from his family
when his boisterous nature was getting out of hand.
Here, it's just what's required.
A chance to test his strength
and find his place in this bachelor herd.
For now, he's right at the bottom.
There's always a bigger elephant.
Fights between old tuskers are fierce.
The winning boar has seen the new arrival.
Tembo isn't so confident now.
The tusker will decide if Tembo belongs.
He could be crushed with just one blow.
But there's no real aggression here.
Tembo has been accepted.
He may be the lowest in the pecking order...
..but he's a step closer to fulfilling his destiny.
For Kike's cubs, the time to leave is long overdue...
..but they still have more practising to do.
This time, it will all be up to them.
Kike will watch
as they put the skills she's taught them into practice.
Where her daughter leads, her sons follow.
They all have stalking down to an art.
Her daughter selects a target.
Freezing when the gazelle's alert...
..advancing when it relaxes.
Every move is timed to perfection.
Her son takes over just when he's needed.
Kike's work is done.
They're ready.
Sometimes, the hardest thing to do is the right thing.
For her cubs' sake, Kike must leave them now.
She won't be coming back.
For Bakari, his dreams of being back with his family
appear to have come true.
He's finally allowing himself to believe
the leader is not coming back.
But it's never wise to get too comfortable.
A rival troop, also displaced since the fire, wants the same land.
But Bakari is worn down by conflict.
This time, he holds back.
But the battle isn't going their way...
..and the onslaught is relentless.
With his troop in trouble, Bakari must do something.
He steps up and takes charge.
True leaders arise when duty calls.
Even Bakari's youngster is inspired by his courage.
Bakari targets the rival leader.
Defeat him and the troop are safe.
Bakari has triumphed.
With the troop secure, Bakari can relax.
But something's changed.
A male comes to show his respect.
And, in time, so do the others.
Then it's the turn of the females.
The new leader is crowned.
It's a role he never coveted.
How will he embrace the power bestowed upon him?
The pups are now a vital part of the wild dogs' hunting team.
Chases rarely fail.
But there's one test in which they've yet to prove themselves.
Zalika has won and lost battles with the wild dogs before,
but now she has support behind her.
Jasari's showed his pups how to deal with hyenas.
He's taught them well.
How better to finish the day than a team celebration?
But success sometimes brings its own problems.
Every meal the cubs catch attracts thieves.
Their mother taught them about jackals.
Fending them off is as exhausting as hunting prey.
But while they waste their energy, they make a beginner's mistake.
Zalika steals their meal.
Cheetahs must be masters of stealth.
But, together, they're too easily seen...
..especially when a warthog
is revealing their presence to everyone.
Being discovered is one thing.
But when their rivals decide to move in to join them,
things have to change.
All Zalika and her cub need to do is wait for them to go hunting again.
This can't go on.
Just as her mother did,
it's time for Kike's daughter to go it alone.
Solitude is her destiny.
We all take different paths in life,
but, in the end, there's only one certainty.
This elephant died after a life well-lived.
Now, Kali won't have to hunt for a while.
They aren't the only lions drawn to the remains.
The pride she thought she'd lost in the flames is here, too.
In the chaos of the fire, the black-maned males failed
in their bid to take over her pride.
The pride males won the battle, but some laid down their lives.
Sefu fought to the last and survived.
Sometimes, change takes you full circle.
Kali was once cast out from the great pride -
now she'll defend it with her life.
The sight of the circling vultures brought the lions together.
In death, the mighty elephant completes life's circle.
He now sustains the life of others.
Zalika would know better than to take on the great pride.
But, today, something's different.
The hyenas are allowed to share.
There's enough for all.
Even the vultures are welcome.
In death, the great elephant has given birth
to an extraordinary truce.
The cycle of life, captured in a moment of harmony.
And there's more to come.
Another old male arrives.
And all defer to him.
He pays homage to one who was once a rival.
And, now, Nalla's family appear.
Here, we all accept the fragility of life.
Just as our land dies and is reborn each year,
what is learned by one generation is reborn as wisdom in the next.
It was here, on the baboons' great rock,
that the story of our incredible year began.
But the lowliest is now the leader...
..and Cheka and the baby are safe.
And that's not the only change.
At this time of year, their fig tree comes into fruit.
Last year, the figs were for a privileged few.
Now, all are welcome.
In our land, where all our lives connect...
..it took the will of one to change the lives of others.
Here, the actions of one can affect us all.
So, although each year the seasons beat to the same rhythm,
their song is never the same.