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They've roamed our planet
for six million years.
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Powerful giants...
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yet gentle...
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and caring.
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They love.
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They grieve.
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But there is so much more to elephants.
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This is amazing.
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They have thoughtful conversations.
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It's not just noise.
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It has meaning.
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They negotiate.
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Make deals.
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- They navigate the modern world.
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As we unlock their secrets,
we begin to see
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just how much like us
elephants really are.
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For every elephant that walks the Earth...
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...one thing rings true.
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Their success...
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- ...rests on the strength
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of their relationships.
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- For African elephants...
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...nothing matters more than family.
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And here on the savanna,
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they live in the biggest groups of all.
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This four-month-old calf
has been born into a 30-strong family.
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Around him,
a tight-knit network of aunts,
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cousins, and sisters...
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all looking out for each other.
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His mother
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is the highest ranking in this family.
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But she faces a major dilemma.
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A brutal dry season
has taken hold in Zimbabwe.
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She knows of a water source.
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But to get there,
they'll have to take a perilous path.
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Dr. Paula Kahumbu
is one step ahead of the herd.
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She's here to find out
how big families navigate
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the difficulties of the harsh climate.
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But in 30 years
of studying savanna elephants,
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she's never witnessed anything like this.
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To think
that the elephants
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have to come from up here...
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to get to that water,
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they've got to get down this cliff.
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It's already making me feel very unsteady.
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My legs feel weak.
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Can't imagine
what it's like for elephants.
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Oh, here they come.
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It's really hot.
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They need water,
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but they could easily tumble
and fall off these cliffs.
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The decision to lead her family
over a 600-foot cliff edge
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rests with the matriarch.
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It's a tough choice.
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They desperately need water,
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but it means
a treacherous descent for her baby.
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Her mind is made up.
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Her sisters seek out
the safest path.
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Wow.
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Look at that.
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Unbelievable.
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They reach out with their trunks,
and they roll it up into a little fist
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and touch the ground in front
and then place their foot
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exactly where the trunk went
as a way to test the ground.
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Really surprising for me,
I've never seen that before.
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And they all seem to do it.
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One slip,
and gravity will take its toll.
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Weighing three to four tons,
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their bodies aren't built
for such a steep descent.
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Together,
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the females keep the youngest calves
hemmed in.
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For these little babies,
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it's really hard work
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coming down this escarpment.
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Their mothers can't turn around
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the way they would normally,
to reassure their babies.
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So, their mothers reach out behind,
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like a soothing touch,
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as a way of staying in contact
with each other.
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It's amazing
how important their tails are to them.
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The matriarch's son is really struggling.
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It's a particularly steep slope here.
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This poor little guy is sliding.
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They're over halfway down now.
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They must have at least
a couple of hundred feet left to go.
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All of them, even the baby,
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have got some streaks of moisture
on the side of their faces.
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And that's a secretion
that reveals a level of stress.
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The whole family
is in a state of some tension
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as they navigate these narrow,
steep paths down this gorge.
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It's an incredible achievement
for such a young calf.
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His mother relied
on her family's support,
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and the wisdom of savanna elephants
who've gone before her.
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The way
that these elephants use this landscape
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is something
that has been learned and passed on
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from generation to generation.
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Once the first elephants figured out
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how to navigate
this incredibly treacherous terrain,
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they taught the others,
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and they taught the others,
and they've continued to use this pathway.
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For generations,
they'll continue doing the same things,
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that's part of their culture.
That's how they transmit knowledge.
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It's what makes them
so successful as a species.
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Relief for the whole family.
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The adults suck up the 40 gallons
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of water they need a day...
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while the calves enjoy
a muddy reward for their efforts.
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For the next 14 years or so,
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this baby's female relatives
will continue to share their know-how.
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But like all males,
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when he reaches adolescence,
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he'll leave the family
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and have to find his own way
on the savanna.
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This vast wooded grassland
stretches across 27 African countries...
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...an area larger
than the entire United States.
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The habitat can support huge herds...
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and the largest mammals to walk the Earth.
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The abundance of food and space
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allows their extended families
to roam together.
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But in this spectacular wilderness,
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the success of every family
depends on their ability to communicate.
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For the last 48 years,
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Dr. Joyce Poole has been eavesdropping
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on elephant families...
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...learning their language.
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I speak to elephants.
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I rumble to them
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if they seem upset.
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I say hello and things.
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Their vocabulary is very large.
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Elephants have over 30 vocalizations.
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There are rumbles,
the low-frequency calls.
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There are roars.
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There are trumpets.
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There are cries.
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Wants to suckle.
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Yeah.
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So, that's when it es... escalates.
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That's when the suckle rumble didn't work,
and then you have to escalate.
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So, saying, "Mom, put your leg forward."
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Mama's not being very cooperative.
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There's an allomother.
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She's like a babysitter.
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She doesn't have any milk,
but she can comfort the baby.
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Females from the age
about three, four years old
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will try and take care of babies.
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That was called a baroo-rumble.
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It's a kind of...
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Like, “Oh, poor me.”
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And the allomother responded
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with a reassuring coo-rumble.
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Okay.
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That's lovely.
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See her reaching back there?
She's trying to show
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the baby where to suckle.
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So even though the allomother
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is not able to produce milk like mom does,
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she does provide comfort.
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And that forms a close bond.
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Still making that little sound.
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That's like, "I want..."
It's a suckle-rumble,
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but it's a more complaining...
...one.
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Obviously, it's not getting any milk.
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Okay, now it's going to mom
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to get some real milk.
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Suckle-rumble.
The... She puts her leg forward
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to let the... the calf suckle.
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Very cute.
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After decades decoding
the calls of savanna elephants,
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Joyce has discovered a language
more elaborate than we ever imagined.
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Elephants do combine
different types of calls.
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They can combine
and make a rumble-roar-rumble,
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or a roar-rumble,
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or a rumble-trumpet, a snort-trumpet.
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or a rumble-trumpet, a snort-trumpet.
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What we don't know
is whether by combining,
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those two different types,
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they're making a-- in a sense, a new word.
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Elephant conversations
can be incredibly complex.
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All of their rumbles contain
infrasonic components
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that is below the level of human hearing.
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And elephants can hear
these powerful rumbles from miles away,
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and also pick them up
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as vibrations
through their feet and trunk.
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Sometimes, they can back and forth
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for up to an hour.
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Literally having a kind of conversation.
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They're having a discussion
about something, it’s very obvious.
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It's not just noise.
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It has meaning.
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They're so like us.
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They communicate
about some of the same things that we do,
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and this communication
is part of the glue
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that holds the whole family together.
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Negotiating, planning,
and caring for one another.
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Savanna elephants
are the most sociable of all elephants.
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And the need to be part of a big family...
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...is deep rooted in their DNA.
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But for males,
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puberty means independence.
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Roaming up to 15 miles a day,
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they search for food, water, and mates...
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across a landscape
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that's changing fast.
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What was once pristine savanna
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is now human settlement and farmland.
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Elephants that trespass
run the risk of conflict with people.
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So, bulls stick together
for companionship and safety.
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It's a daunting time
for young males venturing into adulthood.
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Jasiri is 12 years old.
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- Like many pre-teens, he's bold...
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...and prone to taking risks.
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He's known this gang of friends
since childhood.
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Where play fights were once for fun...
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...sparring now plays a vital role
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in building skills, strength,
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and confidence.
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Jasiri is proving himself.
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But he'll need a mentor
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if he's to navigate life on the savanna.
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And he has set his sights high.
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Standing close
to 11 feet at the shoulder,
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this is one of the biggest bulls around.
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Approaching a hero is always intimidating.
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Jasiri won't match him for size
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for another 25 years.
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But he holds his nerve.
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He keeps following.
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If Jasiri can join the older bulls,
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he'll have the benefit
of their wisdom and protection.
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Not much is really known about the bulls.
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We tend to think of them as loners,
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but now we're beginning to understand
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that their social lives
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are much more complex than that.
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Paula Kahumbu
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is on home turf
catching up with some old friends.
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Jasiri is much younger
than any of these bulls,
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but he wants to be in their gang.
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They have the ultimate leader.
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This is Tolstoy.
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He's magnificent. He's 51 years old.
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He's a hero for all the bulls
in this area.
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His tusks are almost too long to walk.
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You can see he has to raise
his head to walk through vegetation.
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He's like a mammoth.
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We're so lucky
to have these super tuskers.
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There are only about 25 left in the world.
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Each tusk weighs
well over a hundred pounds.
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And that's why so many
have been killed by ivory poachers.
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Even though Tolstoy
is coming up from behind,
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he's probably the one deciding
where they go, when they go,
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- and what they do.
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Tolstoy is the king of this group.
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He's beautiful.
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One of the most amazing things
that you see with the super tuskers
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is that they are surrounded
by this group of other large bulls.
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The local people around here
call them their "Askaris,"
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and that means their bodyguards.
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His tusks are so long,
that makes him vulnerable
261
00:24:49,821 --> 00:24:51,698
to anybody who wants to attack him.
262
00:25:06,046 --> 00:25:08,840
Tolstoy is calling,
and they're all gathering.
263
00:25:17,432 --> 00:25:19,100
They are eating together.
264
00:25:21,728 --> 00:25:25,315
They're actually facing each other.
That shows that there's a lot of, uh,
265
00:25:25,440 --> 00:25:27,359
trust and camaraderie amongst them.
266
00:25:28,860 --> 00:25:29,986
They're like a family.
267
00:25:38,662 --> 00:25:40,539
There's Jasiri sneaking in.
268
00:25:48,338 --> 00:25:49,714
I can imagine every kid
269
00:25:49,881 --> 00:25:51,132
would want to
270
00:25:51,466 --> 00:25:55,804
go and hang out with the big, strong,
powerful, successful giants
271
00:25:55,804 --> 00:25:57,681
like Tolstoy.
272
00:26:02,852 --> 00:26:05,355
Jasiri was clearly irritating
273
00:26:05,814 --> 00:26:07,774
the big guy with a broken tusk.
274
00:26:11,903 --> 00:26:14,990
In the family groups,
the babies get the best of everything.
275
00:26:15,198 --> 00:26:16,741
Right? In the male group,
276
00:26:17,242 --> 00:26:19,077
you have to respect the elders.
277
00:26:25,625 --> 00:26:28,211
Oh, my God.
He's gonna bring down the whole tree.
278
00:26:28,545 --> 00:26:30,672
Everyone's getting super excited
about this.
279
00:26:47,105 --> 00:26:49,232
That was a success.
280
00:26:49,774 --> 00:26:52,152
They brought down the tree
and didn't hurt anybody.
281
00:26:52,152 --> 00:26:53,695
And now it's time to feast.
282
00:26:54,029 --> 00:26:56,531
Jasiri is terrified
of being beaten up again,
283
00:26:56,531 --> 00:26:58,658
so he's off to the side,
284
00:26:59,701 --> 00:27:00,952
trying to avoid
285
00:27:01,620 --> 00:27:03,663
coming head-to-head
with that big bull again.
286
00:27:07,709 --> 00:27:10,295
You can see
a lot of jostling and positioning
287
00:27:10,462 --> 00:27:11,504
going on here.
288
00:27:12,088 --> 00:27:13,715
There's definitely a hierarchy.
289
00:27:15,425 --> 00:27:16,885
When you look at Tolstoy,
290
00:27:18,386 --> 00:27:20,055
it's very clear that he's in charge.
291
00:27:20,847 --> 00:27:24,643
But he's not a fierce, aggressive leader.
292
00:27:25,143 --> 00:27:27,854
He's really gentle. He's very tolerant.
293
00:27:28,855 --> 00:27:30,315
It's hard not to like him.
294
00:27:39,199 --> 00:27:40,450
Just like the females,
295
00:27:40,617 --> 00:27:43,036
bull elephants have close friendships.
296
00:27:47,040 --> 00:27:48,583
But all elephants
297
00:27:48,792 --> 00:27:50,794
have become vulnerable targets
for poachers.
298
00:27:56,758 --> 00:28:01,054
And more young elephants
are finding themselves alone.
299
00:28:13,983 --> 00:28:16,528
Nzou was just two years old
300
00:28:16,528 --> 00:28:20,031
when her entire family
was killed by poachers.
301
00:28:22,909 --> 00:28:25,912
She was orphaned for their ivory.
302
00:28:36,589 --> 00:28:39,634
Rescuers tried to introduce her
to other elephants...
303
00:28:42,053 --> 00:28:43,555
but Nzou didn't fit in.
304
00:29:02,782 --> 00:29:05,201
Her need for a family
never faded.
305
00:29:06,911 --> 00:29:09,706
So, she took matters into her own hands.
306
00:29:19,090 --> 00:29:21,968
Nzou is now 50 years old
307
00:29:22,427 --> 00:29:25,305
and part of an altogether different clan.
308
00:29:30,810 --> 00:29:34,147
She is matriarch
to her very own herd of...
309
00:29:34,773 --> 00:29:35,982
buffaloes.
310
00:29:44,491 --> 00:29:47,952
And it appears
her misfit family has even learned
311
00:29:47,952 --> 00:29:50,330
to understand her rumbles.
312
00:29:56,252 --> 00:29:58,213
She may think she's one of them,
313
00:29:59,130 --> 00:30:00,548
but unlike buffaloes,
314
00:30:00,965 --> 00:30:03,468
elephants like to eat on the move.
315
00:30:08,056 --> 00:30:10,433
So, for 16 hours a day,
316
00:30:10,767 --> 00:30:13,686
they must follow as she browses.
317
00:30:20,568 --> 00:30:23,571
Nzou's instinct to lead is strong.
318
00:30:27,325 --> 00:30:30,954
But she's missed out
on years of learning from her elders.
319
00:30:31,579 --> 00:30:35,834
She's had to figure out
her own management style...
320
00:30:39,462 --> 00:30:43,967
...to keep her extraordinary family
disciplined and on track.
321
00:31:04,487 --> 00:31:08,408
From an early age,
elephants are hardwired to be sociable.
322
00:31:11,452 --> 00:31:12,829
And it's now known
323
00:31:12,829 --> 00:31:16,332
that friends help relieve the stress
of traumatic events.
324
00:31:30,013 --> 00:31:34,434
This very special herd
is made up entirely of toddlers.
325
00:31:38,438 --> 00:31:39,814
Each one an orphan,
326
00:31:41,232 --> 00:31:45,194
with its own devastating story
of habitat loss,
327
00:31:45,653 --> 00:31:47,780
human conflict, or drought.
328
00:31:50,825 --> 00:31:52,744
Up to 25 young elephants
329
00:31:52,869 --> 00:31:55,747
are taken in at the Reteti Sanctuary
each year...
330
00:31:58,750 --> 00:32:03,546
joining one big adoptive family
on the long road to recovery,
331
00:32:05,506 --> 00:32:09,177
as they learn the lessons
needed to return to the wild.
332
00:32:27,904 --> 00:32:30,531
Among them is Long'uro.
333
00:32:32,742 --> 00:32:35,036
Hyenas found him trapped in a well
334
00:32:37,205 --> 00:32:40,249
- and left him with a life-changing injury.
335
00:32:43,836 --> 00:32:47,674
His buddies are able to use their trunks
to select a single leaf...
336
00:32:49,634 --> 00:32:51,636
and tackle whole branches.
337
00:33:00,019 --> 00:33:03,564
But Long'uro struggles
for even slim pickings.
338
00:33:21,541 --> 00:33:22,750
But then,
339
00:33:23,126 --> 00:33:24,502
something remarkable.
340
00:33:54,407 --> 00:33:57,118
A simple act of kindness.
341
00:33:59,370 --> 00:34:02,040
Recognition of a friend in need.
342
00:34:11,215 --> 00:34:14,302
For elephants that can live
for over 60 years,
343
00:34:15,136 --> 00:34:17,889
these bonds of friendship are essential.
344
00:34:20,058 --> 00:34:22,769
And destined to last a lifetime.
345
00:34:32,236 --> 00:34:34,238
But within one generation,
346
00:34:34,781 --> 00:34:38,743
60 percent of savanna elephants
have been lost.
347
00:34:42,246 --> 00:34:48,252
On average,
fifty-five are killed illegally every day.
348
00:35:09,649 --> 00:35:12,151
An eerie silence on the savanna.
349
00:35:15,029 --> 00:35:16,823
An icon has fallen.
350
00:35:20,993 --> 00:35:23,871
The mighty Tolstoy is dead.
351
00:35:29,043 --> 00:35:32,255
Infection spread from a spear wound
352
00:35:32,922 --> 00:35:35,049
after he strayed onto farmland.
353
00:35:37,593 --> 00:35:40,221
Rangers have removed his famous ivory
354
00:35:40,847 --> 00:35:42,390
to keep it from poachers.
355
00:35:46,435 --> 00:35:51,774
The death of Tolstoy is a big shock
to everyone who knows him.
356
00:35:54,235 --> 00:35:58,698
I feel very sad
that this amazing animal, um...
357
00:36:01,242 --> 00:36:04,328
is-- is gone
because he was looking for food.
358
00:36:05,288 --> 00:36:07,039
That's all he was doing, looking for food.
359
00:36:09,292 --> 00:36:13,629
Losing such an important animal
says a lot about our failure
360
00:36:13,754 --> 00:36:18,467
to deal with the challenges
of people living close to elephants.
361
00:36:19,677 --> 00:36:22,138
Tolstoy isn't just any other elephant.
362
00:36:24,182 --> 00:36:29,312
The younger bulls went to him
for his wisdom and guidance,
363
00:36:30,062 --> 00:36:31,522
and losing him
364
00:36:32,356 --> 00:36:34,525
might put them in some disarray
365
00:36:34,525 --> 00:36:39,572
because he was so valuable
in terms of his role in his community,
366
00:36:40,323 --> 00:36:42,366
his role among elephants,
367
00:36:44,076 --> 00:36:45,912
and his place in our hearts.
368
00:36:57,590 --> 00:36:59,342
Word spreads fast.
369
00:37:05,932 --> 00:37:07,433
One by one,
370
00:37:07,683 --> 00:37:09,560
his friends and family
371
00:37:10,228 --> 00:37:12,146
arrive to pay their respects.
372
00:37:13,981 --> 00:37:16,776
Each gently touching his body.
373
00:37:22,865 --> 00:37:25,409
There's a ritual to their grief.
374
00:37:42,510 --> 00:37:45,554
Their actions speak
to the depth of their bonds.
375
00:37:49,058 --> 00:37:52,103
Bonds that endure beyond death.
376
00:38:11,289 --> 00:38:16,294
For savanna elephants,
family really is everything.
377
00:38:18,296 --> 00:38:19,630
It's their support,
378
00:38:20,548 --> 00:38:22,216
their friendships,
379
00:38:23,301 --> 00:38:25,386
and their deepest connections.
380
00:38:29,432 --> 00:38:32,351
But most of all,
it's the gift of wisdom...
381
00:38:33,519 --> 00:38:34,979
to help the next generation
382
00:38:34,979 --> 00:38:36,022
find its way...
383
00:38:41,110 --> 00:38:43,446
{\an8}and their best hope of survival
384
00:38:43,571 --> 00:38:45,406
{\an8}in a changing world.