(BIRDS CHIRPING)
This is Musolole,
a four-year-old male
African elephant.
And this is Zambezi,
he’s about the same age.
Zambezi and Musolole
aren’t related,
but they’ve become brothers.
They’re orphans,
each rescued when
just a few months old,
and cared for by some
very dedicated keepers.
Life at this elephant nursery
has been good.
But there’s a problem,
they’ve grown up.
It’s time to move up
to big school.
So they’re embarking
on the biggest adventure
of their lives.
(TRUMPETS)
It’s going to be challenging,
a long journey
across Zambia...
(LIGHTNING CRACKLING)
...to a new facility
deep in the bush.
And when they get there
they’ll be confronted by
some much bigger elephants.
Leaving home has
never been so tough.
(TRUMPETING)
(THEME MUSIC PLAYING)
          This is Lilayi
Elephant Nursery.
Home to four orphans,
who are enjoying a walk
in the bush.
Musolole is the oldest.
He’s self-assured
and the dominant leader.
Zambezi is single-minded
and independent.
He likes to do things
his own way.
Nkala is a year
and a half younger
and relies on the older two
for comfort and reassurance.
Muchichili is
the baby of the herd.
(TRUMPETS)
The two biggest elephants,
dominant Musolole
and single-minded Zambezi,
have outgrown
the orphanage nursery.
Now, Zambezi and Musolole
have really reached an age
where they need to start
becoming more independent,
and the focus of our program
is to release these elephants
back into the wild,
so we want to ensure that
they’re out in the wild
as early as possible.
NARRATOR:
 These two orphans had
 a very tough start to life.
Zambezi was just one month old
when he was found alone and
exhausted in a swimming pool
in a safari camp
on the Lower Zambezi.
(SPEAKING IN ENGLISH)
          No-one knows
what happened to Zambezi’s
mother or his herd.
Musolole’s story
is very different...
RACHEL MURTON:
Musolole’s rescue was
a very traumatic one.
He was found in
Sioma Ngwezi National Park,
which is on the west side
of Zambia near Namibia,
and when the wildlife
police officers had
heard gunshot
inside the national park
they responded.
When they entered
the park, they actually
came across Musolole
at five months old
with his mother,
who had been shot dead,
and the poachers were
still on her body
hacking out her tusks.
As soon as those poachers
saw the officers, they
opened up fire straightaway
and tragically,
Officer Sitali Musolole
was killed.
And when we arrived we found
some very, very traumatized
wildlife police officers
who were mourning
the loss of their friend
and had very much
become attached to
the baby elephant,
and felt that
their friend’s spirit
could live on through him.
          Thanks
to the dedication of
the elephant keepers,
Musolole and Zambezi are
now healthy four-year-olds,
each with their own character.
While Zambezi likes
to rile his playmate,
Musolole knows when
to put him in his place.
Big, boisterous
and increasingly unruly,
they need to leave
the orphanage.
On a practical level
they’re making problems
around the nursery.
They will pull
down structures,
they’ve already started
to pull the roof off of
the building,
and here in Lusaka
we’re actually in
a small enclosed game park,
which is probably not big
enough for a fully grown
elephant anyway.
          The ultimate goal
for all the rescued elephants
is release back to the wild.
But it has to be done
in stages.
It’s time for Zambezi
and Musolole to start
the next phase.
They’re going to
elephant high school.
The Lilayi Elephant
Orphanage is situated
in a small game park
very close to
the city of Lusaka,
the capital of Zambia
in Southern Africa.
Two hundred miles to the west
 lies "elephant heaven",
the vast Kafue National Park,
the second-largest park
in Africa.
Its wide open spaces,
expansive bush
and plentiful water
make it the perfect place
for elephants to roam free.
In the heart of the park
lies Camp Phoenix,
the project’s
release facility,
where some older orphaned
elephants are already adapting
to a life in the wild.
Here, the orphans start
being weaned off milk
and spend more and
more time out in the bush.
It’s the next step
towards freedom.
This is where Musolole
and Zambezi need to be.
An elephant’s childhood
is just as long as our own.
(LOW TRUMPETING)
In the wild,
elephants need this time
to learn how to survive.
And, just like us, they learn
how to behave with others of
their own kind.
Back at the Lilayi orphanage,
the elephants have
human surrogate mothers.
The elephant keepers have
tended to their every need,
and give them a milk bottle
every three hours,
night and day.
But Musolole and Zambezi,
the two oldest,
haven’t had
an older elephant
to look up to
since they were just
a few months old.
That’s about to change.
If they don’t know
how to behave with
the bigger elephants at Kafue,
they could get
into real trouble.
It’s going to take
some adjustment.
But Rachel has
more immediate concerns.
So tomorrow we’re planning
to move Musolole and Zambezi
out to a release facility
and we are very aware
that even in doing so
it will be a very traumatic
experience for them.
Um, they will be loaded
into a truck and driven
for up to 15 hours,
so it’s not going to be,
you know, a comfortable day
for them.
          But at least
their "mums" will be going
with them.
(VICTOR SPEAKING IN ENGLISH)
          Aaron has been
an adoptive mother
to free-spirited Zambezi
since the elephant
was just a month old.
(AARON SPEAKING IN ENGLISH)
NARRATOR:
Getting single-minded Zambezi,
and herd-leader Musolole,
into a vehicle will be
tomorrow’s first challenge,
so they’re about
to get a trial run.
The transport truck
has just arrived,
and the keepers want it to be
as welcoming as possible.
If you lead
the elephants inside
you have to be able
to jump out through
that hatch,
in case
it gets too busy
to get back.
Can you do that?
Show me.
(MEN LAUGHING)
I need to see that
you’re both able to do it
before I let you do it!
MAN: Have to jump.
RACHEL: You have to
be able to jump up.
(MEN CHATTERING INDISTINCTLY)
RACHEL: Paul was
very nimble, well done!
(MEN LAUGHING)
That was good. OK.
You passed the test!
(MAN SPEAKS OTHER LANGUAGE)
          The elephants
know it’s time for
their bottles of milk,
they’ve spotted the keepers
up on the ridge.
(SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)
          Each elephant
has its own bottle.
The plan is to only
allow them to drink
once inside the truck.
The elephants don’t
understand this new rule.
There’s only room
for one at a time...
And even confident Musolole
is very suspicious of
the dark metal box.
So this is the first time
they’ve gotten to see
the transport vehicle.
We’ve loaded it with browse,
the guys are holding
milk bottles to encourage
the elephants to go inside,
just to get them used to it
so that we know
that they will go
inside before we try
tomorrow morning.
Success so far...
Not so much!
(LAUGHS) Um, no-one’s
actually been fully inside,
but I’m pretty hopeful
that given some patience
and some time
and some more food
then they will go inside.
          In the wild,
African elephants are used
to wide open spaces.
They’re typically on the move
for 18 hours a day.
Small confined spaces
are very alien
to these huge nomads.
It’s perhaps no wonder
that the orphans are wary
of entering a metal box.
But there may be
another reason for
their reluctance.
All the elephants except
the youngest, Muchichili,
have in fact seen
this truck once before,
and maybe the memory
is not a good one.
Two years ago, there were
five elephants at Lilayi
and they all visited
this very same vehicle.
But the next day,
as far as
Musolole and Zambezi
were concerned,
the two oldest elephants
vanished.
Those two,
Maramba and Kavala,
were trailblazers,
the first elephants to be
relocated from Lilayi
to Kafue National Park.
An elephant never forgets.
Musolole and Zambezi know
this truck was the precursor
to their friends’
disappearance from Lilayi.
Elvis attempts to lure in
Muchichili, the youngest,
who wasn’t here two years ago.
But dominant Musolole
is getting frustrated.
(SPEAKS OTHER LANGUAGE)
He’s the strongest
of the eles,
and their leader,
but that doesn’t mean
he’s not cautious.
(SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE)
NARRATOR:
 He wants that bottle
but he just can’t
shake the fear.
(MEN SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE)
(LOW GROWLING)
          All the elephants
take a turn...
But none of them
will enter the crate.
Eventually,
it’s the smallest elephant
who proves to have
the greatest courage.
Or is it just that Muchichili
is the most motivated by food?
RACHEL: Did
Muchichili go inside?
MAN: Mmm-hmm.
      Oh, Muchichili’s inside.
RACHEL: Yay!
          No-one else
follows Muchichili’s lead.
It doesn’t bode well
for tomorrow.
The big day has arrived.
This will be only
the second time that elephants
have been moved from Lilayi,
and Rachel is concerned.
The difference we have
is that last time
the elephants went in
on the trial run
first time, no worries
and yesterday
these elephants
wouldn’t go in,
so I’m just a bit
anxious about how
they’re going to go in.
But I think the success
will be more with
the bottles at this point,
so people inside
with the bottles.
And then I think,
what I noticed yesterday,
which is important,
is to encourage
the elephants,
to talk to them,
to reassure them.
You know, to touch them,
you put your hands on them,
they’re used to you
doing that.
You remember,
that you’re the mum.
          For any mum
it’s a big day
when your babies
finally leave home.
The elephants just want
their morning bottle.
They didn’t get
their night feeds, either.
The keepers want them hungry
for the task ahead.
(SHUTTER CLICKING)
The two youngsters,
Nkala and Muchichili are
kept in their stables,
unaware of
the big changes ahead.
(MAN WHISTLING)
While Musolole and Zambezi
follow their keepers out
in search of breakfast.
They spot their bottles.
Milk is a treat that
they’re used to getting
every three hours.
They haven’t had any now
for more than twelve.
Spurred on by hunger,
they follow the keepers
straight inside...
(WHISTLING)
(TRUMPETING)
...or maybe not.
(WHISTLING CONTINUES)
NARRATOR:
 It’s the start to the day
 that Rachel feared.
And if the bottle won’t
entice them in, what will?
(SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE)
For the next hour
it’s a battle of wills...
(LOW TRUMPETING)
Independent Zambezi
loses interest
But self-assured Musolole
still wants his bottle...
(SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE)
NARRATOR:
 Just one more step...
Success!
But there’s a keeper
still inside.
It’s dangerous to be locked in
with a panicking elephant.
(TRUMPETS)
Now for part two.
A sliding partition secures
Musolole in the back.
He shakes
and clatters the truck...
Zambezi has seen enough.
He still wants that bottle,
but there’s a line
he won’t cross,
so it’s time for Plan B...
(BOTH WHISTLING)
          A light sedative
should make him woozy
enough to be led inside.
But it doesn’t go to plan.
(TRUMPETING)
Musolole’s streaming temples
reveal he’s stressed,
they need to get on the road.
But Zambezi is going
nowhere fast.
RACHEL: Once
you wake him up, that’s it,
we can’t do it again.
(ALL SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)
          Subdued,
but no less obstinate...
He’s a half-tonne beast...
(TRUMPETS)
...made of muscle,
and a mind that
won’t be persuaded.
(ALL STRAINING
AND SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)
          It takes 16 people
to move one young elephant,
but eventually they succeed.
Now I’m feeling pretty good
cos they’re in there,
they both look healthy,
they’re both drinking milk,
 they’re both eating browse...
(SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY)
...which means that you know,
they’re stressed but they’re
not in too bad a situation
otherwise they would be
refusing food and drink,
so it’s really just
a case of getting going
as soon as we can
because it’s going to be
a really long day for them.
Um, but yeah, it’s really
a big relief to see them
both inside
so... For a moment
I didn’t think it was going
to happen today! (CHUCKLES)
It’s 9:00 a.m.
There’s nine hours
of daylight ahead,
but the journey will be
at least 12 hours.
It’s 200 miles
from Lilayi on
the outskirts of Lusaka
to Camp Phoenix
in Kafue National Park,
much of it on unsealed roads.
This is a new, and potentially
frightening experience
for the two jumbo passengers,
rattling along in a metal box.
They will get a break
every two hours
for food and water,
but the first stop
is an unscheduled one.
(TIRES SCREECHING)
A major blow-out almost
caused the truck to roll.
Luckily, Musolole and
Zambezi are both OK.
It’s a further delay
and the truck is heating up
in the morning sun.
RACHEL: It’s a bit
of a nightmare.
So the elephants seem to
be doing OK for right now,
which is good,
but obviously
it’s not ideal,
we want to just have
a smooth journey
and to get there
as soon as possible
so there’s less stress
for them.
And they’ve already
had a stressful start
and now this has
just added to it,
but the main thing
is they’re OK
so we’ll just keep
monitoring them
and do what we can.
(CLICKS TONGUE)
           The elephants need
to keep eating to stay strong.
And they need to keep cool.
(BIRDS CHIRPING)
In the wild,
an elephant’s life can
revolve around finding
enough food and water.
An adult can eat
650 lbs of
browse a day.
They also drink up
to 50 gallons of water,
and will often travel
long distances to find it.
It’s more than just hydrating
and cooling down,
a scarcity of hair means that
elephants can get sunburnt.
The mud and dirt
act as a sunscreen.
Even elephants must
take care of their skin,
especially under
the fierce African sun.
          It takes
the best part of two hours
to change the tyre...
But at last, the elephants
and their convoy are good
to continue.
It’s not the hottest of days,
which is good for
the elephants,
and at last things are
looking up for Zambezi
and Musolole.
They’ve just drunk
two liters of milk each
and now two liters
of electrolytes each
and in-between that
they’ve eaten browse,
which is a really great sign.
So they’re obviously not,
you know, hugely stressed,
but also really,
really important to
get them hydrated
and have them drink fluid
so that’s really good.
So yeah, I’m really pleased.
A rocky start, but now
things are looking quite good.
           They reach the edge
of Kafue National Park,
but they’re still not even
halfway into their journey
as the roads here
get a lot slower.
The truck continues
to stop every two hours
and both Zambezi and Musolole
are very keen to eat and drink
at every opportunity.
It’s a good sign
they’re handling
the journey well.
But their biggest challenge
is still to come...
Young elephants need
to learn their place in
the hierarchy of a herd.
Any boisterous youngsters
that overstep the mark
and fail to show
the right amount of respect
to their elders are swiftly
put in their place.
New additions
to the Kafue herd will need
to mind their manners
if they are
to integrate safely.
It’s getting late...
The road is painfully slow...
And the weather
is changing.
(LIGHTNING CRACKLING)
There’s no possibility
of stopping for the night
with the elephants
still loaded in the truck.
It’s almost midnight
when they finally make it
to Camp Phoenix,
the elephant release facility.
The Kafue elephants are
either asleep in their barns
or out in the park.
The priority is to get
Musolole and Zambezi
out of the truck,
and into a stable
where they can rest.
(MEN SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)
Let’s quiet down, eh?
NARRATOR:
 Nobody knows quite how
 the two elephants will react
after such a long confinement.
(WHISTLING)
Bezi, Bezi, Bezi...
(SNAPPING FINGERS)
    Come on, Bezi.
    Come on.
NARRATOR:
 Zambezi is first out.
Keep the bottles
in their bags.
NARRATOR:
 He’s no fight left in him.
It’s been
a long and tiring day.
Good boy.
(SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)
RACHEL: Well done, guys.
That was very calm,
very smooth
          Musolole
is equally subdued.
Muso... (WHISTLES)
Muso.
(SPEAKING IN ENGLISH)
Yeah!
(BOTH SPEAKING OTHER LANGUAGE)
NARRATOR:
 It’s the day of reckoning.
Zambezi and Musolole
will meet the Kafue herd.
True to form,
independent Zambezi has
escaped from his stable,
but he seems a little unsure
what to do next.
He’s not been spotted
by the resident eles
who are waiting to be
let out into the bush.
So as you know, we’ve got
a very exciting moment
coming up.
Obviously we want
the elephants to
meet each other,
so we need to try
and encourage them
towards each other.
I think, probably
Zambezi and Musolole
will be a bit shy.
They’re not really
knowing where they are,
they don’t know the routine
to walk up to the gate,
so we’re going to have to
help them find each other,
so we can see
what’s going to happen.
OK? But you know
the elephants best,
so we’re actually going
to watch you guys,
er, work with them.
NARRATOR:
 Aaron and Victor have joined
 the resident Kafue keepers
and are going to stay here
until the two new eles have
settled in.
They let Musolole
out of his stable.
And suddenly, the herd spots
the new arrivals.
(TRUMPETING)
(TRUMPETING CONTINUES)
Will Musolole and Zambezi
know how to behave?
(TRUMPETING)
Musolole, not quite
his confident self,
decides it’s safest to stay
behind the fence.
Some of the Kafue orphans
are even smaller
than the newcomers.
Musolole meets their
curiosity with his own.
But Zambezi prefers
to be alone.
Thankfully,
there’s no aggression.
One of the smallest eles
ventures around
behind the fence.
Musolole is getting
his confidence back...
But when he follows
the little one out,
he comes face-to-face
with Tafika,
one of the biggest
elephants here.
This is when
it could get ugly.
Musolole is used
to being the boss.
Tafika backs off
and Musolole doesn’t
push his luck.
Zambezi is still
keeping to himself.
Musolole meets Tafika
once again...
But this time,
he does the right thing.
Presenting his backside,
and even backing into Tafika
is a sign of submission,
and all tension is diffused.
We’ve seen that
Musolole is very social,
and he’s interacted
really nicely with
the other elephants.
But Zambezi’s really
avoiding everybody,
and being difficult.
(LAUGHS)
What a surprise!
He kind of was more
interested in the browse
than the other elephants,
which I think is just
a tactic for avoidance.
Um, he’s probably
very interested
but he doesn’t know quite
how to handle himself.
          It’s time
to leave the boma.
Zambezi would rather
stay here on his own.
But that’s why Aaron is here.
Like a mother
holding the hand of
a reluctant toddler,
he leads Zambezi
to join the others.
At last, they head out
from the enclosure
and into the wilds of
Kafue National Park.
Zambezi and Musolole
stand out from the crowd,
their skin stained by
the red earth of Lilayi,
where they’ve just come from.
This is a new environment
for them.
They’re no longer
in the safety of
the Lilayi game park.
Kafue National Park is home
to lions, buffalo and
all sorts of other dangers.
Zambezi and Musolole almost
certainly wouldn’t survive
if simply left to fend
for themselves.
In the wild,
young elephants enjoy
the protection of the herd.
A pride of lions could easily
bring down a young elephant,
even elephants the size of
Zambezi and Musolole.
(TRUMPETING)
These two adults know it.
(TRUMPETING)
But the lions are blocking
their path to water,
and when it to comes
to size and strength,
the adult elephants
have the upper hand.
(TRUMPETING)
As long as the young elephants
are protected by their elders,
they’ll come to no harm.
(GRUNTING)
Zambezi and Musolole
have the protection of
their keepers,
who are accompanied here
in Kafue by armed guards.
(LAUGHING)
          But if they’re to
survive here long-term,
and live truly wild lives,
they need to be adopted
by bigger, wiser elephants.
Two emerge from the bush.
There are 2,000 wild elephants
in this national park,
but these two are
graduates of the orphan
release program.
They’re part of
the Kafue orphan herd.
They’re old enough
to spend their nights
alone in the wild.
Chamilandu is ten years old,
and she’s the eldest of
the Kafue orphans.
She greets the two newcomers
from Lilayi,
who seem a little intimidated.
(LOW TRUMPETING)
Chamilandu and
her companion Batoka
have been spending weeks
at a time out in the bush
without the keepers or guards.
Musolole and Zambezi could
learn a lot if these two take
them under their wing.
In the wild, elephant herds
are led by a matriarch,
typically the oldest and
most experienced female.
Her knowledge is critical
to the survival of the herd.
She’s the one
who decides when to move
and where to feed.
She knows where
the water will be flowing.
The rest of the herd would
struggle without her guidance.
At midday, the herd
returns to the boma
and Chamilandu,
the oldest female orphan,
goes with them.
(TRUMPETS)
The younger elephants
get a bottle.
Musolole and Zambezi need
this comfort and reassurance.
But then Victor and Aaron
head off with the other
keepers for their lunch...
Leaving the elephants alone.
And Musolole doesn’t like it.
(TRUMPETING)
Chamilandu is
the self-appointed matriarch
of this close-knit herd
of unrelated orphans.
She’s ready
to comfort Musolole
but he’s used to
being the leader...
(TRUMPETS)
...and isn’t keen
to mingle yet.
He needs to learn to fit in.
At least Zambezi is becoming
a little more sociable.
And they’re not alone
for long.
A couple of the elephants
have been unwell,
and so the vet
who travelled from Lilayi
has some work to do.
(RIFLE FIRES)
(TRUMPETING)
It’s safest to anesthetize
them from a distance.
(RIFLE FIRES)
Matriarch Chamilandu
isn’t a target
but she’s immediately aware
something’s going on.
The drug takes
a few minutes to take effect.
Musolole is sticking
close to Victor,
unaware that behind the boma,
an elephant is down.
The veterinary team needs
the rest of the herd safely
out of the way,
but Chamilandu
is demonstrating
her protective
motherly instincts.
(INDISTINCT) Move!
What about pellets?
Someone grab
a bucket of pellets.
          Pellets for these
elephants are like a bag
of sweets for a child,
and the team uses them to
draw the other elephants away.
The unconscious elephant
must be kept cool.
Under sedation,
he’s less able to regulate
his own temperature
and could overheat.
The vets need to work fast,
but can’t do anything
with Chamilandu being
so protective.
The other darted elephant
is getting woozy
and Zambezi appears concerned.
The pellets arrive,
but still Chamilandu is
caught in two minds.
A small stick
keeps the airway open,
and eventually the vets can
get on with their task.
(ELECTRONIC BEEPING)
They suspect
a parasite infection.
The other elephant goes down
and Chamilandu is getting
increasingly agitated.
She may not be
very experienced,
but she’s behaving
just like a matriarch,
very protective of her herd.
(SNORTING)
Musolole and Zambezi
are lucky to be joining
this elephant family.
(TRUMPETS SOFTLY)
The first elephant wakes up.
(TRUMPETS)
And his rumbles bring
Chamilandu rushing back over.
Rachel knows to keep
well out the way.
Every herd needs a matriarch,
and Zambezi and Musolole’s
integration into this herd,
and their ultimate
return to the wild,
will depend heavily
on Chamilandu.
It will be several years
before Zambezi and Musolole
have the confidence
of Chamilandu,
staying out
all night in the bush.
For now, they have
the security of the boma.
It’s been an exhausting day.
Back at the Lilayi orphanage,
on the outskirts of Lusaka,
the two youngest elephants,
Nkala and Muchichili,
have begun to adjust to life
without their elders.
(ELVIS LISIBI
SPEAKING IN ENGLISH)
          Nkala came
to Lilayi when he was
just three months old
and has looked up
to Musolole and Zambezi
throughout his time here.
(SPEAKING IN ENGLISH)
           And it won’t be long
before these two make the move
to Camp Phoenix,
where they will be reunited
with their brothers
Zambezi and Musolole.
A few days in,
and Musolole and Zambezi
are already starting to look
like part of the herd.
Journey completed! Er...
Zambezi and Musolole are
now in a national park,
which is amazing.
Um, and they’re in amongst
eight other elephants
who’ve been here
for some time,
and we can see them now, er,
you know, foraging peacefully
side by side
so it’s a really
good indication
that they’re already going to
be settling in very quickly.
It’s a huge milestone
in the release process,
a step towards
living in the wild,
and yeah, and this is going
to be their new home!
With Chamilandu
and the other older
and more experienced
elephants to guide them,
there’s a bright future
ahead for these
two elephant orphans,
Musolole and Zambezi.
♪
♪
♪
