(uplifting music)
A brave pack united for survival.
Meerkats need their families to watch their backs.
Dangers abound in their desert home.
For one young female, the challenge is ramped up
when she finds herself homeless.
She needs to win the support of another group.
Only together can the little predators beat the odds.
(tense music)
Trouble in the ranks.
(meerkats snarling)
This young female is just past her first birthday.
But she's ready to breed, and for that reason
the dominant female wants her out.
Meerkats live in packs that look after their own
with tenderness and care, but can fight fiercely,
even to the death when tempers run high.
Packs are run by an alpha pair,
and this alpha female doesn't want the competition.
(sad music)
The young female has no choice other than to leave her home
before the attacks become more serious.
Cast out, she roams the desert.
(birds calling)
(hooves pounding)
Lost without her companions to watch her back,
the Namib is no walk in the park.
It's the oldest desert on earth, challenging life
since the days of the dinosaurs,
sprawling 2000 kilometers along the western coast
of southern Africa, its endless horizons are daunting,
trapping animals in its hostile grip.
For a lone, pint-sized meerkat,
it could be a death sentence.
If the heat and lack of water don't get her,
then the desert predators might.
She doesn't have a pack to watch her back.
It's been a tough day.
Tired and stressed, she hopes to make it through the night.
The desert has a night shift,
creatures that wait for the cooler air to emerge and feed.
(tongue lapping)
But the strange sounds and shapes of the night
are daunting to the little sun-lover.
Despite its prickly appearance,
the porcupine's spines are defensive, not offensive.
It just wants to dig for roots and bulbs in peace.
(light music)
The young female's relief seems obvious
when sun finally tempts her from the crevice.
Meerkats always start their day by basking in the sun
but she can't relax, she doesn't know where she is,
but she knows she needs to find food and water.
As the temperature climbs, mirages form.
It looks like there's water everywhere but it's an illusion,
the hot ground bending rays of light reflecting the sky.
Actual water is much harder to find.
Most animals extract water from their food,
though there isn't much left
in the dried, sunburned vegetation.
The young female picks up an alluring smell.
She can hear birds.
A gathering flock suggests water.
(water dripping)
The starlings are visiting a tiny waterhole.
The female takes a few life-saving sips.
But this is not a free bar.
The landlord spots the intruder.
(ominous music)
Unwittingly, the young female has trespassed
into someone else's real estate.
The family is instantly on the defensive.
They have a lot to fight for.
Their territory contains water, the rarest desert resource.
The attack is fast and savage.
(meerkats snarling)
But then, perhaps feeling they have made
the message clear, the fighting stops.
Just to be on the safe side, the alpha male
goes into a frenzy of territorial scent marking,
spraying his personalized signal on prominent sign posts
and rubbing scent glands on his face.
The female is injured and still on the pack's territory.
(birds chirping)
But they ignore her and go back to foraging.
It's only by working together as a team like this
that meerkats can defend their homes.
They need to live in groups, including the young female.
She needs to integrate into a new family,
but at the moment, this clan has its hands full.
The alpha female is heavily pregnant.
The whole family seems on high alert
looking out for the mother-to-be.
She goes to ground, the pack is made up
of the alpha pair and their offspring and now
the dozen clan members hang out in the sun
waiting to meet the new arrivals.
They ignore the convalescing stranger.
The desert is a challenging place to live.
All of the creatures here have unique adaptations
to cope with one of the most hostile homes on the planet.
Antelope, like the majestic gemsbok, have low metabolisms
so they can function with a minimum food and water.
They can tolerate incredible temperatures.
Their bodies can reach 45 degrees Celsius,
enough to kill most mammals.
A network of blood vessels in their noses
helps cool the blood before it flows
to their brains to help prevent heat damage.
Even the plants here are engineered to beat the heat.
These living stones are tiny succulents, camouflaged
from plant eaters by blending in with the gravel.
Most of the plant lives underground
where it can escape the heat and avoid losing water.
The Namib experiences huge temperature changes
from below freezing at night to over 45 degrees.
And, water starved, sometimes receives
as little as two millimeters of rain each year.
Two weeks have passed.
(wings flapping)
The meerkat clan is out foraging on the plains as usual,
digging, hoping to excavate bugs
or some other buried treasure.
One strikes gold, a chunk of meat.
Perhaps it was dropped by one of the neighborhood's jackals.
Though they mostly eat little creatures they catch,
they are opportunists, protein-rich meat is a bonus,
and something worth defending.
The young female, recovered from her injuries,
has been patiently watching from the sidelines
as the clan prepares for new members,
and today is the day they've been waiting for.
Four little ones take their first steps into a bigger world.
(lighthearted music)
(meerkats calling)
From day one they will have the benefits of a big family.
They have a lot to learn.
It will take a group effort to protect them
and teach them all they need to know.
(whimsical music)
(meerkats squealing)
The young female moves in for a closer look.
But the alpha is quick to put her in her place.
For the next two months the little ones will have milk
on tap, and not just from their mother.
Remarkably, even females that have never had babies
can produce milk and help suckle the young.
For meerkats, it's a team effort from start to finish.
All members take turns at lookout,
finding a vantage point where they can scan for danger.
There is safety in numbers and that
doesn't just go for the meerkats.
African ground squirrels often hang out nearby.
They enjoy the company, though like any family,
have their ups and downs.
(whimsical music)
The rowdy neighbors don't throw
the meerkats from their duties
and eventually they settle down and forage.
Out in the sun, the squirrels have an advantage.
Their tails are built in parasols,
shading the squirrels while they work.
The meerkats have no such luxury.
But it doesn't matter, they have an important job to do.
The new members of the family need to learn to hunt.
Meerkats eat most small animals, even spiders,
though sometimes they bite off more than they can chew.
It's frustrating when you know
there is food right under your nose.
But digging with their long claws,
they disturb one bug that can bite back, a scorpion.
Many species of scorpion inhabit the desert.
All of them, like this angry
burrowing scorpion have powerful pincers
and an agile tail sting to inject venom.
Fearlessly, the alpha male goes on the attack.
Even venomous animals like scorpions
and snakes can be on the menu.
(meerkats scuffling)
Meerkats can tolerate six times the amount
of venom it would take to kill a rabbit.
He jealously guards his prize, chewing off the sting.
By taking baby steps, the little ones are encouraged
to cut their teeth on mouth-sized termites.
(light whimsical music)
They are easily distracted when there is so much to explore.
Beetles are fun,
but a bit big for baby mouths.
(eagle cry)
School's out.
(meerkats calling)
The alarm call has an instant effect.
(meerkats calling)
The adults stand, eyes glued to the eagle
while the youngsters are ushered to safety.
The young female huddles at the edge
of the group until the danger has passed.
She's still an outsider, but the pack does seem
to be getting used to her.
She's learning to know the boundaries.
One thing's for sure, she knows to keep her distance
from the alpha pair and their babies.
Things might have cooled off in the pack,
but the desert is cranking up the heat.
(ominous music)
Mirages form on the horizon.
Animals seek the tiniest slivers of shade
where the air can be a few degrees cooler.
The antelope huddle, vying for the best spots.
(elephant bellowing)
But all have to give way when giants arrive.
Even might desert elephants, the biggest of their kind,
need to find ways to beat the heat.
(whimsical music)
Elephants are experts at sniffing out
and digging to underground water.
But even they are struggling.
Fortunately they can reach the last of the green leaves.
Each year the canopy is raised by this browsing.
Soon only the giraffes will be able to reach it.
They shake out leaves or pull down branches
then hoover up what's on the ground.
Other animals might benefit from their leftovers.
Out in the plains, shady trees are not an option
for the meerkat clan, but they have their own tactics.
Time for the babies to learn another vital survival skill,
one that is handed down through generations
of their family, digging.
(busy music)
Their network of underground tunnels
and chambers serve not only as an escape
from predators, but from the elements.
The family commune requires constant
upkeep, repairs and extensions.
(meerkats calling)
Their hard work's interrupted.
Sand grouse seem to appear from thin air.
The delicate birds live and nest in the hottest,
most remote parts of the desert.
But when they have young, they must fly in search of water.
The meerkats' drinking spot has brought them in.
The birds will quench their thirst,
but also soak their breast feathers
which will act like a sponge, taking on water
that they can ship back to their nests.
All the activity attracts some unwanted attention,
(ominous music)
but the birds are fast.
Still, the flocks have brought the jackal
into the heart of the meerkats' territory.
It picks up their scent.
The wily predator will eat any small creature it can catch.
A meerkat would be ideal.
It drops to creep in.
A sentinel spots the movement.
The troop stand united.
The predator has lost any element of surprise.
Without an ambush, it has no chance of running down
the speedy meerkats, and so it retreats.
The family can get back to their babysitting.
(calm music)
It turns out the jackal also has a family to take care of.
But today, her pups will go hungry.
(jackal pups whining)
(uplifting music)
Neighbors are once again disturbing the meerkats' peace.
The prancing spring buck are getting ready to mate.
The start of their breading season
means that change is in the air.
The summer has been long and hard.
It's taken its toll on the pack.
Under the desert sun, their unending family chores
have left them exhausted.
They want to rest, but it can be dangerous
for any to drop their guard,
especially when the family is being watched.
The jackal is back.
With young of her own to feed,
it's vital for her to make a kill.
(ominous music)
(meerkat calls)
With patient stealth, she creeps closer.
The young female is the first to notice.
Instinct kicks in to sound the alarm.
In the blink of an eye, the pack runs for cover.
The jackal, right on their tail,
attempts to breach their security,
but their well-maintained network of tunnels
provides plenty of escape routes.
Once again, the wild dog must abandon
her hunt and go home empty-handed.
When the clan emerges from their safe house,
things have changed.
The little ones are climbing over a new aunt,
the newcomer who saved their life.
It seems she has finally won the trust
of the pack and been welcomed in.
(inspiring music)
It's been a long, tough season for the meerkats
and their desert neighbors, but finally,
building clouds offer some relief.
(moody music)
(wind blowing)
(thunder rumbling)
(rain falling)
In just a matter of days, the desert is transformed.
(uplifting music)
(birds chirping)
Barren dirt is carpeted with spring blooms.
A feast for the grazers, a time of plenty for everyone.
Thanks to their commitment to each other,
their family, their pack, the meerkats have beaten the odds.
The good times won't last forever,
but standing strong and watching each other's backs,
they are poised and ready to face challenges head on.
And thanks to her perseverance and her keen eyes,
the newest member of the family is ready to play her part.
(upbeat music)
( meerkats calling)