Wild Namibia: A Land of Little Heroes and Great Hunters | Full Documentary

Endless deserts and distant horizons, where everything's just a little bit different. Namibia is the country of a thousand faces and unique stories. From the parched Kalahari to the Caprivi Strip in the northeast. A country of unexpected variety and dramatic confrontations. Somewhere in Namibia, something's happening in the grass. It isn't a reptile. It isn't a fish. It's something strange. Scales. A survivor from a bygone age? How about a cute dinosaur toy? Pangolins are the only mammals that have scales. They mainly live alone, so there's no one to tell us about their lifestyle. They clearly never went to finishing school. There are eight different species, four in Africa and four in Asia. Eat ants and termites, sniffing out the nests with their very acute sense of smell. Tools needed? Powerful claws and a very long and sticky tongue. For comparison, a giraffe's tongue is nearly 50 centimetres long, a pangolin's only a little shorter, proportionately 12 times as long as its tall neighbours. Only the pangolin has no teeth, no rain for months. But the pangolin does have a little waterhole in his territory. Surprisingly, this narrow tongue is also an efficient ladle. First a drink, then a bath. Better that way round. When they're happy or when they're scared, pangolins roll up into a ball. Few enemies can pierce this armor. In fact, just one, human. Every species is hunted for their meat and their scales. Now they're all threatened. They're right at the center of the illicit trade in mammals. Is there a way forward for pangolins? In the Kalahari, a meerkat greets the first rays of the sun. He's already on guard duty. The blissful morning solitude doesn't last. Everyone wants their share to keep a lookout. Is the coast clear? Well, not the coast. No danger there. Little muscles flexed, the babies can frolic and play. Someone's watching out for time for breakfast. Doesn't grow on trees. The ground for a juicy titbit. Cats spend a lot of the day digging. They do a lot together. There's cooperation and occasional inefficiency. One meerkat always has watch duty. He's done well. Larvae. Small, but mmmm. Best of all, wait for it. Scorpions. Bite off the steam and it's all yours. It's hot and dry here. It hasn't rained. Not much green. Even less with climate change. Here in Etosha National Park, it's really tough. Water is the absolute priority. There's little left and too little time to enjoy it Before he gets here. Herbivores know their limits. Lions know what's good for them. And that's not the thirsty birds. Which doesn't mean our feathered friends can be complacent. Far from it. A camouflaged predator is more on their scale. African wildcats. Soft paws mean a sneaky approach. Cats don't like water. Maybe that's his excuse. You just have to stick it in the bad. Not bad with the sun barely up. Enough for one day. Too big for a wildcat. Too small for a lion, guinea fowl can relax, but they're still vigilant. Another Namibian cat, another very endangered species. The black rhino, too. Damned by his horn, a miracle medicine for the Chinese, an aphrodisiac for others. The horn's made of keratin, like our fingernail. Chewing them should have the same effect. Giraffes suffer from the drought, too. They make long treks to find food. Long legs help. So do long necks. Giraffes love acacia trees, hairy lips protect against thorns, and long tongues come in handy. In the Kalahari, the heat of the day, meerkats are cuddly and sociable like no other animal. But company comes with crowds. What's that? What are those dangerous looking claws? No problem, just an ostrich after a bite. Panico, time to just... Meerkats like each other's company. Cleaning their fur and mutual grooming take up a lot of time. Disruptor moves on. After the snooze, time to look for food. Now, a big beetle's a tempting target. They have to mind the other end-hincers. A surprisingly formidable quarry. Sociability is one thing. Sharing prey gets carried away. Namibia has great rivers. Biggest of all, the Zambezi. This is where the hippos live. These giant mammals live in the great river system known as the Caprivi Strip. Together with elephants, giraffes and rhinoceroses, they're the world's biggest land mammal. Glands in their skin secrete a red fluid that stops them drying out on land. A built-in sunscreen. You don't mess with hippos, especially when they're with their young. These colossal herbivores have a real turn of speed. They're among Africa's most dangerous animals. This caring mother has unlimited patience for her offspring's silliness. Hippo females usually give birth to a single baby. At 55 kilos, that's enough. Hippos are endangered now, too. Hopefully not going under forever. The Caprivi Strip hosts the biggest animals of all. A matriarch, the oldest and most experienced female, leads the herd. The little ones always stay close to their elders. They spend most of their time on the mar. Elephant society is very complex. Mothers with their children, sisters and aunts with their own offspring. The elephants ignore national borders, often crossing between Namibia and Botswana. This is still pachyderm paradise. They used to be found over the whole continent, but African elephants are disappearing fast. Elephants gather from all points, including bulls that normally stay in bachelor groups. Sometimes they meet up in giant herds. They all know each other. Confirming identities with their trunk. Up to 2,000 can come together this way. Everything they do is a sign of their great intelligence. Once upon a time, these gatherings were a frequent sight. Now, they're rather rare. The climax of the gathering is the big wallow. It wards off midges and other annoying insects, and is also an effective sunscreen. Keeps the skin soft, even this skin. Elephant society only functions with mutual aid. The mud bath is a social highlight, but it's tiring. Great herds of buffalo also wander through the well-watered savannah on the border with Botswana. Just like elephants, they go a long way for good grazing land. Cape buffalo herds can number up to a thousand animals. And they're rarely alone. As the name suggests, yellow-billed oxpeckers pick at the buffalo's parasite. It's mutual support, a win-win situation, is a downside. Sometimes the birds get too enthusiastic and pick at open wounds, preventing them healing. Then they get a brush off. Cape buffaloes often cross the Chobe River between Namibia and Botswana. The lions are never far behind. Really don't like wolves. This time, the inexperienced young lead the way. Challenging target. You need courage and strength to attack them. This is dangerous. So she calls up reinforcements. Now she plucks up courage. But it isn't her day. Pride leaves empty-handed. Colonies of southern Carmine bee-eaters have arrived on the Zambezi. These colorful birds are preparing for the breeding season. They got here from the north several days ago. Now they'll stay for a few months. The bee-eaters sport such bright colors. They nest in breeding holes they excavate themselves. Before they can brood, they have to dig up to two meters into the loam, using their beak as a chisel. They like to dig in the steep riverbanks, where they're well protected from predators. But there's limited space, so the Zambezi bee-eaters found somewhere to colonize on the ground a thousand birds in a single colony. In the afternoon, the birds return from foraging. Soon, the digging begins again. There's no consideration for the neighbors, arguments break out over the best places, and of course over the best partner. A crush like this? Conflict is unavoidable. Peace slowly returns and a male and female have found each other. Unsurprisingly, the birds attract attention. This is a yellow-billed kite. Clear and present danger. The bee-eaters are worried. African marsh harrier triggers panic. After the first attempt, it goes in again. Miss! Now it's the kite's turn. No luck either. What about the march hare? The terror continues. This male will be alone this season. The kite has finally scored two. The river Chobe, bordering Namibia and Botswana, is extremely important for elephants They are the symbol of African wildlife. It's not just a matter of size. Their intelligence and their sensitivity are part of it, too. We can never quite grasp their abilities. Their senses and their sensitivity are just beyond us. We're only now beginning to understand how remarkable these grey giants really are. Their strength and gentleness. Will we ever understand how they think, how they see themselves and their environment? An elephant has found the body of another on the banks of the Chobe River. What could he have died on? The elephant approaches carefully. What does he make of this situation? Did he know him? Is this curiosity or empathy? It seems impossible to believe in anything but a great and lasting sensitivity to the fate of another. If this were a human, we would see someone mourning a friend, or perhaps simply regretting the loss of another life. It raises the most profound questions about how we treat animals, and how we choose to differentiate between species. Why are animals attributed instincts, while we alone, act through reason? Is empathy solely a human trait? Maybe we're sometimes closer than we think to the long drought. Rain has finally come to central Namibia. The ground is green again. Etosha National Park offers an abundance of food. Paradise for herbivores. Green shoots for black rhino. And there's more news. That's a baby. Thanks to intensive protection, numbers are rising, slowly but surely. Better conditions encourage animals to reproduce. The giraffes have young, too. For a few months, they can all eat their fill. Life is easy. Big eyes, pointy ears, and a flexible nose. Damara dikdiks have lots of enemies. This dwarf antelope is scarcely bigger than a rabbit. Only the males have horns. Females have a fancy hairstyle. Dikdiks are plant eaters. Dikdik couples live in dry forest and bush landscapes. They mark their territories with a dark secretion. That passes on unique detailed personal information. They secrete it from their pre-orbital gland. These mini antelopes are monogamous. They usually have one young per season. Their chief predator is the caracal. Their only defense, their hypersensitivity. The dikdik spots the enemy and then gets out of town. Caracal is a lone hunter. His ear tufts have earned him the nickname of Desert Lynx. But they're not related. His prey spectrum is broad, from mice and birds to small antelopes. These are sociable weavers. They build giant nests together. Up to a hundred couples live in each one. There must be something here for the caracal. This was made for him. Weavers retreat to safety high up in the nest. Caracals can jump up to three meters. That doesn't help him today. He'll be back tomorrow. The Kalahari offers an abundance of fresh shoots in a landscape of lush reds and greens. A new meerkat generation emerges from the burrow. There can be three litters a year. An individual lives 12 or 14 years. All family members help with child care. But infant mortality is very high. They grow fast in the two months they're suckled. First excursion, not too far from the burrow. And they want to know everything. Digging and burrowing. Instinct or imitation. Already eating insects alongside their milk. Everything under their parents' close supervision. Outside the burrow, youngsters stay close to the adults. The sentry meerkat has spotted something. It's a martial eagle, the meerkat's deadliest enemy. This is real danger. Beak and claws equally powerful. Combined, they're deadly. But the martial eagle has to attack from a clear sky. Once he's spotted, his chance is gone. All but the sentries can flee. The eagle gets nothing. When the guards sound the all-clear, they all come out again and resume the activity meerkats are best known for. That combination of community, cleverness, care, and quite a lot of courage helps meerkats cope with conditions in the Kalahari better than other animals. Dry savannah to the broad river landscapes. Namibia is a land of a thousand faces, stories, plenty of surprises and discoveries in store. In this world of little heroes, Night Hunters.