1 00:00:08,141 --> 00:00:09,267 Two American scientists, 2 00:00:09,743 --> 00:00:11,904 Delia and Mark Owens, have lived dream 3 00:00:12,145 --> 00:00:14,375 many people share but few ever realize, 4 00:00:14,981 --> 00:00:17,950 the opportunity to explore wildest Africa. 5 00:00:21,354 --> 00:00:23,845 Alone in the vast Kalahari Desert in Botswana, 6 00:00:24,090 --> 00:00:26,786 they studied brown hyenas and lions. 7 00:00:28,695 --> 00:00:32,153 They made unique discoveries about both species and their prey, 8 00:00:32,399 --> 00:00:33,957 which helped them develop an overall plan 9 00:00:34,200 --> 00:00:36,532 for the conservation needs of the Kalahari. 10 00:00:38,138 --> 00:00:40,436 Unavoidably, they often lived with danger. 11 00:00:43,209 --> 00:00:44,642 Get to the back. Get to the back. 12 00:00:47,947 --> 00:00:49,972 After seven years in the Kalahari, 13 00:00:50,216 --> 00:00:52,878 Delia and Mark returned home to continue their studies for 14 00:00:53,153 --> 00:00:55,553 graduate degrees at the University of California at Davis, 15 00:00:55,789 --> 00:00:58,952 where they organized their research for publication. 16 00:00:59,325 --> 00:01:00,314 ...keep a lot of different skulls. 17 00:01:00,527 --> 00:01:01,255 Yeah. 18 00:01:01,494 --> 00:01:04,292 They also wrote a best-selling book, CRY OF THE KALAHARI, 19 00:01:04,531 --> 00:01:07,523 About their experiences, a book that brought them 20 00:01:07,767 --> 00:01:09,598 into conflict with powerful political forces. 21 00:01:10,904 --> 00:01:13,168 When the book was excerpted in LIFE magazine 22 00:01:13,406 --> 00:01:15,135 and condensed in READER'S DIEST, 23 00:01:15,375 --> 00:01:17,843 Delia and Mark became instant celebrities. 24 00:01:18,111 --> 00:01:20,045 They were welcomed as returning heroes 25 00:01:20,280 --> 00:01:22,407 in Delia's hometown of Thomasville, Georgia. 26 00:01:22,982 --> 00:01:23,971 Thank you for coming by. Hello. 27 00:01:24,217 --> 00:01:25,377 Thanks for coming by. 28 00:01:25,618 --> 00:01:26,744 Good to see you. 29 00:01:26,986 --> 00:01:27,782 Thank you. 30 00:01:28,021 --> 00:01:29,955 Whas this one about? 31 00:01:30,190 --> 00:01:33,591 Well, is about what it was like to live in isolation for seven years 32 00:01:33,760 --> 00:01:36,320 and then come back to this. 33 00:01:40,133 --> 00:01:42,124 Now their lives are tied to conservation 34 00:01:42,368 --> 00:01:43,699 and the research it requires. 35 00:01:45,238 --> 00:01:48,230 After four years in the United State, they returned to the Kalahari 36 00:01:48,475 --> 00:01:51,171 and a National Geographic film crew went with them. 37 00:01:52,145 --> 00:01:55,706 Their fortunes over the next year illuminate the painful choices 38 00:01:55,949 --> 00:01:58,349 that face conservationists in Africa today. 39 00:02:40,393 --> 00:02:43,760 When Delia and Mark Owens first entered the bush in 1974. 40 00:02:44,063 --> 00:02:46,156 They began with only the packs on their backs. 41 00:02:46,666 --> 00:02:47,462 Thall do it. 42 00:02:47,700 --> 00:02:50,294 Later, as the scope of their research expanded, 43 00:02:50,537 --> 00:02:52,061 the Frankfurt Zoological Society 44 00:02:52,305 --> 00:02:54,102 provided them with full financial support 45 00:02:54,340 --> 00:02:56,069 and an airplane for radio tracking. 46 00:02:56,409 --> 00:02:58,434 We've got pins here. We can slip the door off easily. 47 00:02:58,678 --> 00:02:59,702 Oh, really? No more nails? 48 00:03:00,747 --> 00:03:02,908 No more nails. A brand new prop. 49 00:03:04,450 --> 00:03:06,008 I mean is virtually a new airplane. 50 00:03:08,488 --> 00:03:11,286 Now they pick up their vehicles in Johannesburg. South Africa. 51 00:03:11,925 --> 00:03:13,449 Is 700miles to the Kalahari. 52 00:03:13,693 --> 00:03:16,253 Delia has to drive it without Mark. 53 00:03:16,496 --> 00:03:20,455 ...you don't have any gauges until that switch is on. Okay? 54 00:03:21,301 --> 00:03:22,495 All right. 55 00:03:22,635 --> 00:03:23,192 Yep. 56 00:03:23,636 --> 00:03:25,194 Drive safely. Have a good trip. 57 00:03:25,338 --> 00:03:27,704 I'll see you up there. Bye, bye, love. 58 00:03:33,446 --> 00:03:35,107 Remember, I'll be flying out the track if you're 59 00:03:35,348 --> 00:03:36,474 not up there by Friday night. 60 00:03:37,183 --> 00:03:39,242 Right. Okay. Friday night. 61 00:03:49,395 --> 00:03:52,853 Is seen 11 years since the Owenses first made the trip to Botswana. 62 00:03:53,466 --> 00:03:55,957 There, in a 33,000-squara-mile wilderness 63 00:03:56,202 --> 00:04:01,037 the Central Kalahari Game Reserve in a place called Deception Valley, 64 00:04:01,341 --> 00:04:03,935 Delia and Mark first began their seven years study. 65 00:04:07,947 --> 00:04:09,847 Mark's flight will take four hours. 66 00:04:11,818 --> 00:04:14,116 Delia's drive will take four days. 67 00:04:23,529 --> 00:04:25,497 Leaving the last settlements behind, 68 00:04:25,732 --> 00:04:28,565 Delia runs all day on a track she and Mark cleared 69 00:04:28,801 --> 00:04:30,428 when they first entered the Kalahari. 70 00:04:31,604 --> 00:04:33,697 It was almost exactly 11 years ago 71 00:04:33,940 --> 00:04:36,636 that we came down this track for the first time ever. 72 00:04:37,443 --> 00:04:39,638 And we wanted to find a wilderness 73 00:04:39,879 --> 00:04:42,814 that had not been affected in any way by man 74 00:04:43,049 --> 00:04:47,349 a free, open place that was like all of Africa used to be. 75 00:04:47,920 --> 00:04:51,253 We wanted to identify the conservation problems that it had 76 00:04:51,491 --> 00:04:53,959 and then be able to make recommendations 77 00:04:54,193 --> 00:04:55,353 of how it should be saved. 78 00:04:56,996 --> 00:05:00,727 During their last years in the game reserve, a severe drought began. 79 00:05:01,501 --> 00:05:03,628 Mark knows that the animals in the Kalahari 80 00:05:03,870 --> 00:05:05,804 have continued to suffer in their absence. 81 00:05:06,572 --> 00:05:10,838 My mixed feelings are, I think, come from knowing the Kalahari, 82 00:05:11,077 --> 00:05:13,807 loving the Kalahari as we love the Kalahari, 83 00:05:14,047 --> 00:05:16,515 and knowing it as we know it, 84 00:05:16,749 --> 00:05:19,149 and yet understanding that it has severs problem 85 00:05:19,385 --> 00:05:22,320 in terms of threats to its survival. 86 00:05:23,089 --> 00:05:25,580 And we're coming back to see what we can do to ensure 87 00:05:25,825 --> 00:05:27,292 that future generations 88 00:05:27,527 --> 00:05:31,429 come to love the area and its wildlife the way we love it. 89 00:05:36,903 --> 00:05:39,804 The Owenses made their camp on an ancient, dry riverbed. 90 00:05:40,440 --> 00:05:43,568 Slight depressions support islands of trees that offer protection 91 00:05:43,810 --> 00:05:45,744 from the searing sun and wind. 92 00:06:15,975 --> 00:06:18,068 Oh, great! Success. 93 00:06:23,182 --> 00:06:24,513 There's Deception Valley. 94 00:06:26,252 --> 00:06:27,480 Does it ever need rain. 95 00:06:30,056 --> 00:06:31,853 First time we came here it 96 00:06:32,091 --> 00:06:34,582 was covered with springbok and gemsbok 97 00:06:34,861 --> 00:06:36,419 and beautiful green grass. 98 00:06:40,433 --> 00:06:42,958 Many scientists yearn to do research in Africa. 99 00:06:43,436 --> 00:06:47,566 But only a miniscule few ever succeed in raising the necessary funds. 100 00:06:49,742 --> 00:06:53,007 To get started 11 years ago, Delia and Mark auctioned off 101 00:06:53,246 --> 00:06:56,841 all their possessions and flew to Africa with just $6,000. 102 00:06:57,817 --> 00:07:01,514 Their early research won the respect of their peers and a first grant 103 00:07:01,754 --> 00:07:03,278 from the National Geographic Society. 104 00:07:04,223 --> 00:07:07,488 Other grants then helped them conduct the most important studies of 105 00:07:07,727 --> 00:07:10,218 hyenas and lions ever undertaken in the Kalahari. 106 00:07:11,330 --> 00:07:15,232 At the same time, their role as conservationists led to 107 00:07:15,468 --> 00:07:17,129 conflicts with the Botswana government 108 00:07:17,403 --> 00:07:20,133 conflicts that would eventually threaten their scientific careers. 109 00:07:23,109 --> 00:07:26,078 As Delia nears their former tree-island camp, 110 00:07:26,312 --> 00:07:29,304 she wonders it has been destroyed by storm or fire. 111 00:07:38,658 --> 00:07:40,091 How you doing? You made it huh? 112 00:07:40,326 --> 00:07:40,883 Yeah. 113 00:07:41,227 --> 00:07:44,094 I did too. How you doing? 114 00:07:44,931 --> 00:07:46,159 I got stuck in the mud. 115 00:07:46,532 --> 00:07:47,191 Did you really? 116 00:07:47,433 --> 00:07:48,798 It wasn't that bad a thing. 117 00:07:49,035 --> 00:07:52,300 You would have gotten right out, but it took me three tries. 118 00:07:52,538 --> 00:07:53,334 Guess what I have. 119 00:07:53,573 --> 00:07:54,096 What? 120 00:07:54,340 --> 00:07:55,534 A complete stereophonic sound system. 121 00:07:55,775 --> 00:07:56,707 For calling the lions? 122 00:07:56,943 --> 00:07:57,967 To call the lions. 123 00:07:58,211 --> 00:07:59,872 Well, that will be fun. 124 00:08:00,112 --> 00:08:01,079 We can play that tonight... 125 00:08:01,314 --> 00:08:02,576 I also have a male and female mating. 126 00:08:02,815 --> 00:08:03,474 Mating. Thas... 127 00:08:03,716 --> 00:08:05,343 Well, well, well. 128 00:08:17,997 --> 00:08:24,800 I wondered how I'd mind the dust and the grime and everything, 129 00:08:24,871 --> 00:08:26,805 but it looks bloody beautiful, doesn't it? 130 00:08:27,173 --> 00:08:30,040 Oh, it looks great. It looks great. 131 00:08:30,376 --> 00:08:31,400 It really does. 132 00:08:31,844 --> 00:08:33,641 I mean how could you have a better kitchen? 133 00:08:35,314 --> 00:08:36,178 Oh, I tell you. 134 00:08:36,549 --> 00:08:39,109 With great relief they find their camp still intact. 135 00:08:39,352 --> 00:08:41,343 They can begin their work immediately. 136 00:08:43,389 --> 00:08:44,879 The dry season is beginning, 137 00:08:45,124 --> 00:08:47,388 and as grasses on the riverbed have started to wither, 138 00:08:47,627 --> 00:08:49,652 antelope will disperse and lions will follow 139 00:08:50,029 --> 00:08:52,589 making it much harder for Delia and Mark to find them. 140 00:08:52,899 --> 00:08:54,958 I was saying that after the initial reaction, 141 00:08:55,201 --> 00:08:57,567 it feels great to get back. 142 00:08:57,803 --> 00:08:59,327 But then you look out. 143 00:08:59,572 --> 00:09:01,665 It really looks so bleak. I was just... 144 00:09:01,908 --> 00:09:03,705 We've got to start looking for lions right away and hyenas. 145 00:09:04,043 --> 00:09:05,840 Yeah, because the lions are going to be here and gone. 146 00:09:06,078 --> 00:09:07,238 I mean, very quickly. 147 00:09:07,680 --> 00:09:08,510 Yeah. 148 00:09:13,386 --> 00:09:17,846 A last storm sweeps the dry river and distant shrub-covered dunes. 149 00:09:32,538 --> 00:09:34,802 Dawn brings the zoologists a welcome sound. 150 00:09:40,646 --> 00:09:42,807 Mark will try to locate the lion from the air 151 00:09:43,049 --> 00:09:44,812 as Delia pursues him on the ground. 152 00:09:49,355 --> 00:09:51,414 Is amazing that even year after year 153 00:09:52,024 --> 00:09:53,855 the same lions use the same trees to lie up in, 154 00:09:54,093 --> 00:09:57,153 and even new lions that take over from old lions 155 00:09:57,396 --> 00:09:59,455 use the same trees again. 156 00:10:05,538 --> 00:10:06,436 Mark, do you see him? 157 00:10:07,707 --> 00:10:08,605 Negative, love. 158 00:10:11,277 --> 00:10:14,974 Mark searches a tree island where he knows from previous experience 159 00:10:15,214 --> 00:10:18,342 Kalahari lions are likely to lie up in the shade for the day. 160 00:10:34,800 --> 00:10:35,391 Did you see him? 161 00:10:35,635 --> 00:10:39,799 It looks thick from the ground, but up there, I don't know. 162 00:10:40,039 --> 00:10:41,267 I may be wrong 163 00:10:41,607 --> 00:10:44,906 but I think that may be what the springbok were running from 164 00:10:45,144 --> 00:10:47,942 when we were up there trying to find him. 165 00:10:48,781 --> 00:10:52,217 I think he came out on the opposite side of the island... outfoxed us. 166 00:10:52,618 --> 00:10:53,949 We'll have to take another drive up there. 167 00:10:57,657 --> 00:10:59,989 Tracking the lion takes them far from camp, 168 00:11:00,226 --> 00:11:02,626 so they spend the night near their last sighting. 169 00:11:03,095 --> 00:11:04,289 I love this Swiss army knife. 170 00:11:04,530 --> 00:11:05,394 You can't open it unless you split it. 171 00:11:05,631 --> 00:11:06,256 Here, you want me to do it? 172 00:11:06,499 --> 00:11:07,625 Yeah, you open it. 173 00:11:07,867 --> 00:11:09,528 Which one? This one? 174 00:11:09,769 --> 00:11:11,327 That one... 175 00:11:11,704 --> 00:11:12,966 The woman's a genius. 176 00:11:14,006 --> 00:11:14,836 Brute force. 177 00:11:20,446 --> 00:11:21,743 Mark is up before dawn. 178 00:11:27,586 --> 00:11:30,350 He and Delia reason that male lions in the vicinity 179 00:11:30,589 --> 00:11:34,491 may feel challenged by the sound of another lion and come to investigate. 180 00:11:44,804 --> 00:11:47,932 I don't believe this. There's a bloody lion out here. 181 00:11:48,340 --> 00:11:49,307 Is actually worked. 182 00:11:55,281 --> 00:11:57,442 We ought to sit down and make very little commotion 183 00:11:57,683 --> 00:11:58,911 because he's looking at us. 184 00:11:59,151 --> 00:12:00,778 Yeah, we know we don't want to frighten him away, 185 00:12:01,020 --> 00:12:01,850 now that he's here. 186 00:12:02,088 --> 00:12:03,453 Yeah, les just sit down and not move. 187 00:12:05,291 --> 00:12:08,419 Male lions roar to establish claim to a pride 188 00:12:08,661 --> 00:12:11,323 and sometimes fight to the death to defend territory. 189 00:12:12,231 --> 00:12:14,062 This lion searches for the intruder. 190 00:12:15,601 --> 00:12:18,468 Now Delia and Mark will try to get close enough to dart him 191 00:12:18,704 --> 00:12:20,569 and collar him with a radio transmitter. 192 00:12:21,307 --> 00:12:24,105 Then he can be tracked systematically to determine his range size, 193 00:12:24,343 --> 00:12:27,244 social contacts, and prey selection. 194 00:12:33,252 --> 00:12:34,913 The lion has left the river plain. 195 00:12:36,789 --> 00:12:39,656 They follow his tracks called spoor. 196 00:12:40,059 --> 00:12:41,617 We're coming to the point where he went in, 197 00:12:41,861 --> 00:12:44,455 so we should see his spoor pretty quickly. 198 00:12:44,697 --> 00:12:46,358 It was up here. 199 00:12:46,599 --> 00:12:48,260 He may still be in there. 200 00:12:53,906 --> 00:12:55,168 Mark has seen him, Mark has seen him. 201 00:13:25,504 --> 00:13:26,664 I should have marked the spot 202 00:13:26,906 --> 00:13:28,897 where we lost him. I didn't think of it. 203 00:13:31,510 --> 00:13:32,772 We had him all that way. 204 00:13:35,447 --> 00:13:36,573 For half the night 205 00:13:36,882 --> 00:13:40,010 Delia and Mark try to get close enough to the lion to dart him. 206 00:13:53,866 --> 00:13:55,834 For three days the lion eludes them. 207 00:14:02,875 --> 00:14:05,639 The crust on the sand is bunched up ahead of the foot. 208 00:14:05,945 --> 00:14:07,913 So the foot was falling quite quickly. 209 00:14:08,180 --> 00:14:10,808 So you can see he was a little bit concerned about us still. 210 00:14:12,852 --> 00:14:16,549 He's here somewhere. He's got to be here somewhere. 211 00:14:18,190 --> 00:14:19,418 I wish I could find his spoor. 212 00:14:21,493 --> 00:14:22,858 I just got to keep going. I think maybe... 213 00:14:32,238 --> 00:14:34,468 If we can get to that clearing and get set up, 214 00:14:34,707 --> 00:14:35,765 maybe we can attract him into it. 215 00:14:36,008 --> 00:14:38,374 I don't know what good it will do though. 216 00:14:38,611 --> 00:14:41,705 I mean, he has to come up... he has to be approachable. 217 00:14:42,147 --> 00:14:44,547 Well, if we get a dart in him, at least we can track him. 218 00:14:44,783 --> 00:14:45,215 Yeah. 219 00:14:46,952 --> 00:14:48,385 Frustrated in their pursuit, 220 00:14:48,754 --> 00:14:50,688 they try to attract him right up to the truck. 221 00:14:53,392 --> 00:14:56,293 Ignoring Delia and Mark, the lion trots by, 222 00:14:56,528 --> 00:14:58,155 looking for his supposed rival. 223 00:15:08,140 --> 00:15:11,507 Finally he realizes that the roars are coming from the vehicle. 224 00:15:26,325 --> 00:15:27,815 The lion focuses on Mark. 225 00:15:40,472 --> 00:15:44,431 Head on, he presents an almost impossible target for a dart shot. 226 00:16:11,570 --> 00:16:14,095 In the twenty minute before the drug takes effect, 227 00:16:14,340 --> 00:16:15,500 the lion wanders off. 228 00:16:18,644 --> 00:16:20,635 Mark follows his tracks to find him. 229 00:16:26,785 --> 00:16:29,583 When lions are immobilized, the stop blinking. 230 00:16:30,089 --> 00:16:33,058 Salve keeps their eyes from drying out 231 00:16:39,698 --> 00:16:41,563 We'll have to use a bigger bolt. 232 00:16:41,834 --> 00:16:45,326 Delia and Mark whisper to avoid upsetting other lions in the area. 233 00:16:48,340 --> 00:16:51,571 Keep your eyes peeled. We've got company here somewhere. 234 00:16:51,877 --> 00:16:54,107 They're bound to come over here and have a look. 235 00:17:02,788 --> 00:17:03,550 Yeah, but he's fine. 236 00:17:07,960 --> 00:17:09,791 I'm going to go get the shotgun out here, Delia. 237 00:17:10,596 --> 00:17:11,187 Okay. 238 00:17:13,665 --> 00:17:14,654 Or you could get the dart gun. 239 00:17:26,979 --> 00:17:28,037 Delia, look at the hyena. 240 00:17:33,285 --> 00:17:35,412 Boy, feel the muscles in his neck. 241 00:17:37,356 --> 00:17:40,883 Tooth eruption and wear help the Owenses determine a lion's age. 242 00:17:41,994 --> 00:17:43,052 He doesn't look like an old lion. 243 00:17:51,670 --> 00:17:56,698 It will be interesting to compare this measurement with the one 244 00:17:56,942 --> 00:17:58,876 we took just a second ago. 245 00:18:00,846 --> 00:18:02,143 Look at the size of that paw. 246 00:18:02,748 --> 00:18:05,581 I can put both my hands together and you can't see them underneath. 247 00:18:06,351 --> 00:18:07,784 Mark, there's a lion right here. 248 00:18:11,356 --> 00:18:12,789 Get to the car. 249 00:18:14,493 --> 00:18:16,825 I'm going to back off. If she comes in, I'll dart her. 250 00:18:17,830 --> 00:18:19,092 She's probably going to find the male. 251 00:18:19,498 --> 00:18:20,988 I think she has the male's scent. 252 00:18:27,573 --> 00:18:29,541 Knowing that the pride will soon break up, 253 00:18:29,842 --> 00:18:33,300 Mark darts other lions to keep track of as many as possible. 254 00:18:37,649 --> 00:18:39,776 Collaring each lion takes several hours. 255 00:18:40,319 --> 00:18:41,980 As the night wears on, 256 00:18:42,221 --> 00:18:44,655 Delia and Mark become giddy with fatigue. 257 00:18:45,757 --> 00:18:47,725 You've been wanting to hit me in the nose all day. 258 00:18:49,228 --> 00:18:50,786 You finally got here. 259 00:18:52,798 --> 00:18:55,665 Mark, try to act like a sophisticated scientist! 260 00:19:04,877 --> 00:19:06,139 We have three lions darted. 261 00:19:07,479 --> 00:19:08,104 Another pride. 262 00:19:10,048 --> 00:19:13,916 One adult male and two young females, so it was worth it. 263 00:19:15,621 --> 00:19:18,852 Nights like this bring Delia and Mark deep satisfaction. 264 00:19:19,324 --> 00:19:21,724 Using radio collars to maintain contact, 265 00:19:21,960 --> 00:19:25,452 they will spend many other long nights recording observations. 266 00:19:29,334 --> 00:19:31,495 They plot lion movements from radio data. 267 00:19:32,404 --> 00:19:34,998 Through such painstaking work, they have discovered that, 268 00:19:35,240 --> 00:19:36,969 unlike lions observed elsewhere, 269 00:19:37,476 --> 00:19:39,603 prides in the Kalahari disband in the dry season, 270 00:19:39,845 --> 00:19:43,076 and individual lions range over as much as 271 00:19:43,315 --> 00:19:45,943 1,500 square miles in search of food. 272 00:19:47,819 --> 00:19:49,878 Their movements present a conservation problem: 273 00:19:50,322 --> 00:19:52,552 Hunters and ranchers shoot many of the lions 274 00:19:52,791 --> 00:19:55,919 in the Owenses study group when they wander outside the reserve. 275 00:19:59,498 --> 00:20:02,262 The Kalahari is so dry that most of the time carnivores 276 00:20:02,501 --> 00:20:04,867 must obtain all their moisture from prey. 277 00:20:05,270 --> 00:20:07,704 The prey, in turn, get their moisture mainly from melons, 278 00:20:07,940 --> 00:20:09,737 leaves, and grasses. 279 00:20:11,410 --> 00:20:18,145 Mark, look at... lf we sit tight, maybe she'll come in. 280 00:20:19,518 --> 00:20:24,922 They circle a carcass several times because they can't afford 281 00:20:25,157 --> 00:20:28,126 to make a mistake that the lions are still close by, 282 00:20:28,360 --> 00:20:33,024 because lions often kill brown hyenas in a situation like this. 283 00:20:35,801 --> 00:20:37,393 This is such a rare opportunity. 284 00:20:38,003 --> 00:20:42,201 I mean most people living in Botswana have never even seen a brown hyena. 285 00:20:42,507 --> 00:20:46,102 They're so rare and they're also so secretive and shy 286 00:20:46,345 --> 00:20:49,644 that usually they run off when they see a truck. 287 00:20:56,154 --> 00:21:00,488 For the size that they are, their jaws are incredibly powerful. 288 00:21:01,193 --> 00:21:05,425 Yeah. We've actually seen them pick up a 50 pound chunk of meat and bone 289 00:21:05,664 --> 00:21:08,155 and walk three of four-miles with it before taking it back to 290 00:21:08,400 --> 00:21:09,992 the communal den as they often do. 291 00:21:13,639 --> 00:21:15,834 The Owenses were the first to discover that brown hyenas 292 00:21:16,074 --> 00:21:18,372 have a very complex social structure. 293 00:21:19,111 --> 00:21:22,706 At the communal den related hyenas share in the feeding of the young 294 00:21:22,948 --> 00:21:25,007 and even adopt each other's orphans. 295 00:21:26,118 --> 00:21:29,178 When we first began our study of brown hyenas in 1974, 296 00:21:29,855 --> 00:21:33,382 the odd sighting suggested that they were solitary scavengers. 297 00:21:34,026 --> 00:21:36,722 Yet they lived in a clan as a group and we couldn't understand 298 00:21:36,962 --> 00:21:37,929 why they were social. 299 00:21:38,163 --> 00:21:42,065 And then one night we followed a female moving one of her cubs 300 00:21:42,301 --> 00:21:45,964 from her small den into a huge communal den. 301 00:21:47,372 --> 00:21:50,364 It provides a haven for the cubs and releases the mothers 302 00:21:50,609 --> 00:21:52,042 from the duty of protection. 303 00:21:52,577 --> 00:21:54,875 They move from one of these large dens to the other, 304 00:21:55,113 --> 00:21:57,547 and we don't know which one of these dens they are using at the moment. 305 00:22:03,355 --> 00:22:04,379 There are no fresh bones in this. 306 00:22:05,057 --> 00:22:07,582 So often a zoologiss hops are disappointed. 307 00:22:09,728 --> 00:22:10,660 The den is empty. 308 00:22:12,230 --> 00:22:15,427 To anybody else this just looks like three big holes in the ground. 309 00:22:16,301 --> 00:22:22,729 But to us this is just so many... represents so many memories and discoveries 310 00:22:22,974 --> 00:22:25,340 and hard nights of watching empty holes 311 00:22:25,577 --> 00:22:28,705 and exciting nights of watching hyenas 312 00:22:29,081 --> 00:22:30,742 This place means so much to us. 313 00:22:31,650 --> 00:22:34,517 It may take weeks to discover the clan's new den, 314 00:22:34,753 --> 00:22:36,778 but research continuity is crucial. 315 00:22:38,223 --> 00:22:40,487 It took the Owenses four years to discover 316 00:22:40,726 --> 00:22:42,717 that clan members share a communal den 317 00:22:43,362 --> 00:22:45,353 That observation opened doors 318 00:22:45,597 --> 00:22:48,088 of understanding to previously inexplicable hyena behavior. 319 00:22:53,805 --> 00:22:56,740 From time to time Delia and Mark fly 100 miles to Maun, 320 00:22:56,975 --> 00:23:00,467 a town of native huts and tourist lodges. 321 00:23:02,414 --> 00:23:04,712 Here they can pick up research correspondence 322 00:23:04,950 --> 00:23:07,214 and send off manuscripts for publication. 323 00:23:09,454 --> 00:23:10,785 This is the Crocodile Farm. 324 00:23:11,423 --> 00:23:13,482 Water is so precious in the Kalahari 325 00:23:13,725 --> 00:23:16,626 that they always arrive weighed down by dirty laundry. 326 00:23:28,340 --> 00:23:31,867 Maun Office Services is their contact with the outside world. 327 00:23:32,277 --> 00:23:36,043 It receives and stores mail for people who live far out in the bush. 328 00:23:36,548 --> 00:23:37,446 I found it. I've given it to him. 329 00:23:37,916 --> 00:23:40,009 Whenever you get a minute, we've just come to pick up our mail. 330 00:23:40,252 --> 00:23:43,085 Okay. Behind you is a box with the word "Owens" on it. 331 00:23:43,388 --> 00:23:46,186 And a big box after it. And thas all yours. 332 00:23:48,126 --> 00:23:50,321 What was the date on that? 333 00:23:51,129 --> 00:23:53,859 Oh, her Look. These are all our telegrams. 334 00:23:54,533 --> 00:23:56,160 Oh, golly. Okay, wait a minute. 335 00:23:57,335 --> 00:23:59,360 Hey, Tony. You want to come and join us? 336 00:23:59,771 --> 00:24:00,567 Why don't you join us? 337 00:24:00,806 --> 00:24:02,569 I've got something in the oven. 338 00:24:03,642 --> 00:24:05,166 Now this is a birthday card from my mother. 339 00:24:05,444 --> 00:24:06,911 I know it. 340 00:24:08,713 --> 00:24:09,702 Yep, and is fat. 341 00:24:09,948 --> 00:24:10,380 What? Is fat? 342 00:24:10,615 --> 00:24:11,172 Is fat. 343 00:24:11,416 --> 00:24:13,247 She usually sends vitamin pills. Why is she sending fat? 344 00:24:13,485 --> 00:24:14,349 Oh, look. Pictures of home. 345 00:24:14,719 --> 00:24:15,515 Thas fantastic. 346 00:24:16,154 --> 00:24:18,088 Oh, thas great. 347 00:24:18,857 --> 00:24:20,984 Cut off as they are for months at a time, 348 00:24:21,226 --> 00:24:24,525 these bundles of mail are precious links with home. 349 00:24:25,096 --> 00:24:28,896 Through letters they share in their families' triumphs and despairs. 350 00:24:38,143 --> 00:24:41,169 Back at camp again, Delia and Mark are on the prowl, 351 00:24:41,413 --> 00:24:45,144 still hoping to find some of the lions they studied four years earlier. 352 00:25:09,040 --> 00:25:11,474 The cubs seem to sense that something is wrong. 353 00:25:15,080 --> 00:25:17,412 Delia and Mark have darted an old lioness. 354 00:25:18,316 --> 00:25:20,147 They can tell by the tag in her ear 355 00:25:20,385 --> 00:25:22,785 that she is one of the lions they studied before. 356 00:25:24,623 --> 00:25:26,614 The lion's whisker pattern will tell them more. 357 00:25:29,327 --> 00:25:30,294 Here's one of our old friends. 358 00:25:31,496 --> 00:25:33,589 There's just a shard of an ear tag left, 359 00:25:33,832 --> 00:25:36,733 just a pin with a little bit of color on either side right here. 360 00:25:38,336 --> 00:25:40,861 Mark, do you know who this is? This is Happy. 361 00:25:41,506 --> 00:25:42,200 Happy? 362 00:25:42,874 --> 00:25:47,436 This is Happy. Darted first April 9th, 1978. 363 00:25:50,682 --> 00:25:51,842 I can't believe it. 364 00:25:52,484 --> 00:25:53,678 What a story behind her. 365 00:25:56,054 --> 00:25:59,751 One reason we called her Happy is because we recorded her with 366 00:25:59,991 --> 00:26:01,686 more males than any other female. 367 00:26:02,360 --> 00:26:04,021 She'd from one male to the other. 368 00:26:05,630 --> 00:26:07,621 I can't believe it. She's a beauty. 369 00:26:08,099 --> 00:26:09,999 Oh, you old bag, you. 370 00:26:11,236 --> 00:26:14,137 Finding Happy is an important link to their early research. 371 00:26:14,706 --> 00:26:18,836 She helps them learn how prides in the Kalahari form and break apart. 372 00:26:20,011 --> 00:26:23,174 Her presence in the same area demonstrates just how crucial 373 00:26:23,415 --> 00:26:26,145 the riverbed habitat is to the lions' survival. 374 00:26:29,721 --> 00:26:30,881 Roger, ready to copy. 375 00:26:31,923 --> 00:26:33,515 To Mark Owens, a telex from... 376 00:26:33,959 --> 00:26:37,224 Back at camp, Mark gets a call from his radio contact in Maun. 377 00:26:40,799 --> 00:26:42,198 Okay. Well, we've got a problem. 378 00:26:43,168 --> 00:26:49,698 We received a telex message by radio yesterday that lmmigration 379 00:26:49,941 --> 00:26:54,207 in the capital has rejected our request for a residence permit, 380 00:26:54,579 --> 00:26:57,013 which, of course, we need to carry on our research here. 381 00:26:57,382 --> 00:27:02,115 So we're going to fly off to Gaborone and try to see what the problem 382 00:27:02,354 --> 00:27:03,821 is and try to sort it out. 383 00:27:04,689 --> 00:27:06,589 Is obviously most disturbing. 384 00:27:07,759 --> 00:27:10,660 Before returning to the Kalahari, Delia and Mark had talked to 385 00:27:10,895 --> 00:27:13,557 government officials and had been assured all was in order. 386 00:27:16,801 --> 00:27:19,326 Delia and Mark would not return to the Kalahari. 387 00:27:21,072 --> 00:27:24,303 The Botswana government would expel them from the country. 388 00:27:39,824 --> 00:27:43,453 The trees at their camp had sheltered them from desert winds 389 00:27:43,695 --> 00:27:46,129 and shaded them from the lethal sun of summer. 390 00:27:48,066 --> 00:27:51,467 While they lived here, they made important scientific discoveries 391 00:27:51,703 --> 00:27:54,695 and developed plans that they hoped could save wildlife 392 00:27:54,939 --> 00:27:57,032 in the Kalahari for future generations 393 00:28:00,979 --> 00:28:03,812 As soon as we entered the office, he said, 394 00:28:04,049 --> 00:28:06,847 You have until 5 o'clock to get out of the country. 395 00:28:07,252 --> 00:28:09,379 And I said, Well, what about our camp? 396 00:28:09,621 --> 00:28:11,020 And he said, If you're here after 5 o'clock, 397 00:28:11,256 --> 00:28:12,621 the law will take its course. 398 00:28:13,258 --> 00:28:16,352 We just feel like we've been thrown out of our home. 399 00:28:16,995 --> 00:28:20,487 And it was like somebody had died. It was really, honestly, 400 00:28:20,732 --> 00:28:25,499 like someone very close to us had died and we were mourning that death. 401 00:28:32,777 --> 00:28:35,610 A few days later, friends of Delia and Mark fly into the camp 402 00:28:35,847 --> 00:28:38,645 to pick up their research data and vehicles. 403 00:28:41,186 --> 00:28:43,051 I believe this is a tragedy for Botswana. 404 00:28:44,456 --> 00:28:48,290 I can't imagine that any good could come out of people like 405 00:28:48,526 --> 00:28:50,721 Mark and Delia being restrained. 406 00:28:51,329 --> 00:28:53,797 They're so dedicated and they have the interest of the country 407 00:28:54,032 --> 00:28:55,397 and the people so much at heart. 408 00:29:01,573 --> 00:29:03,973 The Botswana government refused to give the 409 00:29:04,209 --> 00:29:05,938 Owenses any reason for their expulsion, 410 00:29:07,812 --> 00:29:11,043 but almost certainly it concerned their protests over a massive 411 00:29:11,282 --> 00:29:13,807 die-off of wildebeest in the Kalahari. 412 00:29:16,087 --> 00:29:19,716 In 1979 at the beginning of a long drought in Botswana, 413 00:29:19,958 --> 00:29:23,519 Mark had discovered thousands of wildebeest migrating northward. 414 00:29:25,363 --> 00:29:29,390 In long drought periods these antelope must have access to water to survive. 415 00:29:36,207 --> 00:29:39,199 Instinct, perhaps, tells them there are perennial sources 416 00:29:39,444 --> 00:29:40,604 of water to the north. 417 00:29:44,549 --> 00:29:47,609 But now herds of cattle are grazed in the same area. 418 00:29:51,823 --> 00:29:55,452 Disregarding the impact on wildlife, the Botswana government 419 00:29:55,693 --> 00:29:58,856 has built fences because some veterinarians believe 420 00:29:59,097 --> 00:30:01,463 that wildebeest can infect cattle with foot-and-mouth disease. 421 00:30:03,434 --> 00:30:04,901 The wildebeest were cut off. 422 00:30:06,538 --> 00:30:09,200 As they traveled north, their natural route was blocked. 423 00:30:26,524 --> 00:30:28,321 Thousands died on the fences. 424 00:30:35,200 --> 00:30:38,397 Following the scent of water, those with enough strength 425 00:30:38,636 --> 00:30:41,332 pushed on around the end of the fences into an area made desolate 426 00:30:41,573 --> 00:30:43,700 from overgrazing by villagers cattle. 427 00:30:52,917 --> 00:30:55,044 By the time the wildebeest did reach water, 428 00:30:55,286 --> 00:30:57,117 many were too exhausted to continue. 429 00:31:03,361 --> 00:31:07,263 Survivors had to trek 50 miles each day between the water 430 00:31:07,498 --> 00:31:11,093 and woodlands where they could graze and escape harassment from poachers. 431 00:31:13,972 --> 00:31:16,304 Day after day hundreds more died. 432 00:31:20,578 --> 00:31:22,739 Although wildebeest have not been shown to transmit 433 00:31:22,981 --> 00:31:24,778 foot-and-mouth disease to cattle, 434 00:31:25,016 --> 00:31:27,382 villagers were told that they must not let the 435 00:31:27,619 --> 00:31:29,018 wildebeest mix with their herds. 436 00:31:32,190 --> 00:31:36,388 Since 1979 more than 200,000 wildebeest have died. 437 00:31:38,529 --> 00:31:40,019 Only 30,000 remain. 438 00:31:48,239 --> 00:31:49,672 Horrified by the disaster, 439 00:31:49,908 --> 00:31:52,172 Delia and Mark alerted the Botswana government. 440 00:31:53,811 --> 00:31:54,641 When little was done, 441 00:31:54,879 --> 00:31:58,440 they wrote articles and a book reporting this wildlife disaster. 442 00:32:02,153 --> 00:32:04,917 For a year Delia and Mark tried to gain reentry. 443 00:32:06,758 --> 00:32:09,522 Although the government would eventually offer to readmit them, 444 00:32:09,794 --> 00:32:13,195 the Owenses would decide that, in the face of bureaucratic hostility, 445 00:32:13,431 --> 00:32:16,764 they could no longer be effective conservationists in Botswana. 446 00:32:18,169 --> 00:32:22,731 We came to Africa to find a chunk of what Africa always used to be 447 00:32:22,974 --> 00:32:25,704 a wilderness that was untouched, 448 00:32:25,944 --> 00:32:30,779 a wilderness that we could protect by conducting basic research 449 00:32:31,015 --> 00:32:33,210 and devising a conservation program. 450 00:32:34,185 --> 00:32:37,882 Besides losing the science, we've now lost what was our home 451 00:32:38,122 --> 00:32:41,250 and what was our reason for working. 452 00:32:41,726 --> 00:32:43,353 And we wanted so badly to conserve this area. 453 00:32:43,594 --> 00:32:45,585 I just hope it won't now be lost. 454 00:32:46,664 --> 00:32:50,623 I can't think of anything else that has affected me as much 455 00:32:50,868 --> 00:32:52,335 personally as the loss of the Kalahari has, 456 00:32:52,570 --> 00:32:57,132 and I just hope that... 457 00:33:01,312 --> 00:33:03,075 I hope the world won't let it pass. 458 00:33:20,365 --> 00:33:23,198 Delia and Mark are determined to continue their efforts to 459 00:33:23,434 --> 00:33:24,992 conserve wildlife in Africa. 460 00:33:25,470 --> 00:33:28,030 They ask themselves where they can be most effective. 461 00:33:29,007 --> 00:33:31,305 Okay. Search for a new study site. 462 00:33:32,977 --> 00:33:36,936 Is fairly depressing as to how many countries are off 463 00:33:37,181 --> 00:33:38,739 limits to us for a variety of reasons. 464 00:33:38,983 --> 00:33:41,975 Mozambique has a civil war going on, so we can't go to Mozambique. 465 00:33:42,487 --> 00:33:45,047 And similarly South-West Africa/Namibia 466 00:33:45,289 --> 00:33:47,314 in the north is torn with civil strife. 467 00:33:47,558 --> 00:33:51,392 We've been warned not to go to Zaire because of some populations 468 00:33:51,629 --> 00:33:53,563 over here that are still attacking people. 469 00:33:53,798 --> 00:33:55,231 There are supposed to be still cannibals there. 470 00:33:55,466 --> 00:33:59,493 So we basically are limited to south-central Africa, 471 00:33:59,737 --> 00:34:03,036 and the country that seems to offer the most promise is Zambia. 472 00:34:09,814 --> 00:34:12,044 Delia and Mark set out on a five-day journey to 473 00:34:12,283 --> 00:34:13,875 Botswana's neighbor to the north. 474 00:34:15,853 --> 00:34:20,813 Zambia's largest national park, Kafue, is 170 miles long. 475 00:34:22,193 --> 00:34:26,061 They begin their quest at Ngoma, a tourist and game-scout camp. 476 00:34:26,697 --> 00:34:30,394 There they will discover wildlife problems common across Africa. 477 00:34:33,004 --> 00:34:34,767 Delia and mark learn about the park 478 00:34:35,006 --> 00:34:37,201 from chief game warden, Ray Mwenifumbo. 479 00:34:37,608 --> 00:34:40,270 They are looking for a research site that needs conservation 480 00:34:40,511 --> 00:34:43,139 and where animals are undisturbed by human contact. 481 00:34:44,048 --> 00:34:44,980 Whas the poaching pressure like? 482 00:34:45,283 --> 00:34:49,014 Poaching and the human encroachment these are the two major problems 483 00:34:49,253 --> 00:34:50,185 I'm having right now. 484 00:34:50,688 --> 00:34:54,488 Of course, these are not very big problems as far as I'm concerned. 485 00:34:54,725 --> 00:34:59,628 I think I'm handicapped more my being handicapped without enough transport, 486 00:34:59,864 --> 00:35:01,559 enough funds to operate, you know. 487 00:35:01,899 --> 00:35:04,697 I'm running... this park is 2,400 square kilometers, 488 00:35:04,936 --> 00:35:06,597 almost the size of Scotland. 489 00:35:07,271 --> 00:35:08,738 And I've got one vehicle myself 490 00:35:09,373 --> 00:35:11,841 and my senior ranger there has got one vehicle. For me... 491 00:35:12,076 --> 00:35:13,475 You've got two vehicles for the whole park? 492 00:35:13,711 --> 00:35:14,541 For the whole park. 493 00:35:14,779 --> 00:35:18,112 Now, for me to drive from here to come and see my other staff here, 494 00:35:18,349 --> 00:35:19,475 it takes more than a month. 495 00:35:21,052 --> 00:35:24,818 Right now I have only about 81 wildlife scouts to mind this area. 496 00:35:25,056 --> 00:35:27,115 Thas just peanuts. 497 00:35:27,425 --> 00:35:28,221 You' ve got how many? 498 00:35:28,459 --> 00:35:29,585 Eighty-one. Eighty-one. 499 00:35:29,827 --> 00:35:31,089 For the entire park. 500 00:35:31,329 --> 00:35:35,026 Definitely the staff need not less than 300 scouts to manage, 501 00:35:35,266 --> 00:35:37,359 strictly speaking, this vast area. 502 00:35:37,735 --> 00:35:40,397 Zambia is committed to protecting its wildlife, 503 00:35:40,638 --> 00:35:42,572 but faces severe economic problems. 504 00:35:43,241 --> 00:35:45,709 The population is doubling every 20 years. 505 00:35:46,544 --> 00:35:49,445 As land is cleared, wildlife habitats are wiped out. 506 00:35:50,014 --> 00:35:52,812 Commercial poaching destroys animals 507 00:35:53,050 --> 00:35:55,814 that could be a renewable resource on a continent starved for protein. 508 00:35:59,323 --> 00:36:02,622 Many conservationists believe that African wildlife can be saved 509 00:36:02,860 --> 00:36:07,058 only if people who live near the parks benefit from them in tangible ways. 510 00:36:09,333 --> 00:36:12,825 Ray Mwenifumbo suggests that the Owenses visit a village nearby 511 00:36:13,070 --> 00:36:14,799 to learn what the villagers think. 512 00:36:21,445 --> 00:36:26,007 Boys watch from a respectful distance as Delia and Mark meet Chief Shezongo. 513 00:36:29,754 --> 00:36:32,552 At this point we are very naive about your problems. 514 00:36:32,823 --> 00:36:34,415 How do you think we could help? 515 00:36:34,659 --> 00:36:39,096 We want to see practical things that people near a park 516 00:36:39,330 --> 00:36:43,767 at least see the need for these animals 517 00:36:44,368 --> 00:36:49,032 We would like to see that the local population is taken into account 518 00:36:49,473 --> 00:36:51,907 Yes, we get benefits on national level 519 00:36:52,376 --> 00:36:56,335 but the ordinary person like me doesn't see what shares we have. 520 00:36:56,581 --> 00:36:59,675 In particular the people who are next to the wildlife, 521 00:36:59,917 --> 00:37:03,409 the district should benefit much. Not as it is at the moment. 522 00:37:03,821 --> 00:37:06,915 Have you spoken to the government about this? 523 00:37:07,291 --> 00:37:10,192 Not at all. At present they are only 524 00:37:10,428 --> 00:37:13,295 interested in looking after the tourists, 525 00:37:13,531 --> 00:37:16,159 but not the local people. We are isolated. 526 00:37:16,934 --> 00:37:18,162 We are nothing to them. 527 00:37:19,036 --> 00:37:21,971 The Owenses know that the government of Zambia is beginning 528 00:37:22,206 --> 00:37:24,470 to share tourist and hunting revenues with villagers. 529 00:37:26,877 --> 00:37:30,005 But this important reform has yet to be initiated here. 530 00:37:32,650 --> 00:37:35,483 This is this lion. He's the one whose leg was broken here. 531 00:37:35,720 --> 00:37:36,744 Yes. 532 00:37:36,988 --> 00:37:38,683 Pictures in their book help Mark 533 00:37:38,923 --> 00:37:41,949 and the villagers establish common ground and understanding. 534 00:37:42,693 --> 00:37:43,819 You see we could get very close to them 535 00:37:44,061 --> 00:37:45,187 They would walk up to us. 536 00:37:45,529 --> 00:37:46,359 Is this the same lion? 537 00:37:46,731 --> 00:37:49,962 This is this cub, Bimbo. He is two years old now. 538 00:37:50,601 --> 00:37:53,331 And he walked up and nearly smelled my face here. 539 00:37:53,571 --> 00:37:55,198 Were they tame, the lions? 540 00:37:55,573 --> 00:37:57,370 No, no. They were wild lions. 541 00:38:02,647 --> 00:38:06,014 But these lions would come into camp and they'd sit at the campfire. 542 00:38:06,250 --> 00:38:09,242 Wild lions. Hard to believe. 543 00:38:09,487 --> 00:38:13,218 Maybe the lions of Botswana are different from ours here? 544 00:38:13,457 --> 00:38:15,857 No, these lions have never been hunted you see. 545 00:38:16,227 --> 00:38:17,888 Thas the difference. 546 00:38:18,129 --> 00:38:20,256 Those lions in Botswana can be very mean if they're hunted. 547 00:38:20,498 --> 00:38:21,522 Oh, yes. Yeah. 548 00:38:24,001 --> 00:38:26,231 Delia and Mark are perhaps the first Americans 549 00:38:26,470 --> 00:38:28,734 ever to visit Shezongo village, 550 00:38:28,973 --> 00:38:31,203 reason enough for a celebration. 551 00:39:12,983 --> 00:39:14,883 The dancing goes on for hours. 552 00:39:15,453 --> 00:39:19,856 For seven years in the Kalahari Delia and Mark lived isolated lives, 553 00:39:20,091 --> 00:39:22,389 at home with animals but far from people. 554 00:39:23,294 --> 00:39:26,127 This moving evening is an exciting first for them. 555 00:39:30,501 --> 00:39:32,935 Deep within the wilderness on the Kafue River 556 00:39:33,170 --> 00:39:35,035 there is an especially lush area, 557 00:39:35,272 --> 00:39:38,605 unvisited in recent years because bridges and roads are out. 558 00:39:39,410 --> 00:39:41,207 They make this area their goal. 559 00:39:43,047 --> 00:39:45,413 Along the way they find seas of grass, 560 00:39:45,649 --> 00:39:49,483 but curiously the vegetation seems untouched by grazing animals. 561 00:39:57,795 --> 00:40:02,095 The few antelope they do see run as the Land Cruiser approaches. 562 00:40:09,707 --> 00:40:13,074 This is like and Eden with nothing here. With everything gone. 563 00:40:13,978 --> 00:40:18,608 And You know, I just more or less have come to the conclusion as 564 00:40:18,849 --> 00:40:21,010 we were driving down this last stretch here that is got to be poaching. 565 00:40:21,252 --> 00:40:22,549 Everything we've seen has been wild. 566 00:40:23,454 --> 00:40:26,321 I know. We've only seen a few animals and they have run away from us. 567 00:40:26,724 --> 00:40:28,885 And there's grass to be eaten and there are no animals to eat it. 568 00:40:43,541 --> 00:40:47,204 Then, a chance encounter with a volunteer game scout, Tony Middleton. 569 00:40:47,545 --> 00:40:48,807 But still I kept thinking, we both kept thinking, 570 00:40:49,046 --> 00:40:50,877 there must be more; there should be more animals. 571 00:40:51,115 --> 00:40:52,844 There should be more. Even now there should be more. 572 00:40:53,083 --> 00:40:54,812 And on the elephant I promise you, 573 00:40:55,052 --> 00:40:56,610 here you would drive and you'd see two or three hundred 574 00:40:56,854 --> 00:40:57,946 in an afternoon elephant. Three years ago. 575 00:40:58,189 --> 00:40:58,678 Is that right? Yeah. 576 00:40:58,923 --> 00:40:59,548 Three years ago? 577 00:40:59,790 --> 00:41:02,554 Three years ago. Three years ago the northern half 578 00:41:02,793 --> 00:41:03,885 of the park was really heavily poached 579 00:41:04,128 --> 00:41:06,596 for ivory and the elephant actually moved down into this particular area. 580 00:41:06,864 --> 00:41:08,889 Now they're going for the lesser animals because is now meat. 581 00:41:09,233 --> 00:41:11,064 We've got the commercial meat, 582 00:41:11,302 --> 00:41:13,361 but poaching's hand in hand with the ivory poaching. 583 00:41:14,004 --> 00:41:15,528 Are the poachers coming in with trucks 584 00:41:15,773 --> 00:41:17,570 No, is all by foot. But you see, 585 00:41:17,808 --> 00:41:19,742 you get two or three guys come into an area like this 586 00:41:19,977 --> 00:41:21,239 and they'll set up a camp, hide somewhere. 587 00:41:21,479 --> 00:41:23,276 And then they will just shoot, shoot, shoot, shoot. 588 00:41:23,514 --> 00:41:25,607 And they will cut up the meat or cut out the ivory. 589 00:41:25,850 --> 00:41:27,511 And then once a week, once every fortnight, 590 00:41:27,751 --> 00:41:30,083 you will get 10, 12, 15 chaps coming from the villages on the other side 591 00:41:30,321 --> 00:41:32,915 with bicycles. Quick movement, load it up, and off they go. 592 00:41:33,357 --> 00:41:35,848 Unless something drastic is done on a national scale, 593 00:41:36,093 --> 00:41:38,323 we are not going to have any wildlife left in this country in ten years. 594 00:41:42,233 --> 00:41:44,701 Still hoping to find an area free of poaching, 595 00:41:44,935 --> 00:41:48,427 Delia and Mark plunge ever deeper into the wilderness toward the river. 596 00:41:49,206 --> 00:41:49,900 Oh, oh. 597 00:41:50,274 --> 00:41:52,299 Their route is often blocked by streams. 598 00:41:55,312 --> 00:41:58,213 We shouldn't have to go far west 599 00:41:58,449 --> 00:41:59,074 before we cut north. 600 00:41:59,316 --> 00:42:00,146 But you know I think 601 00:42:00,317 --> 00:42:01,409 what we're going to have to do decide 602 00:42:01,652 --> 00:42:02,880 go maybe a few kilometers 603 00:42:03,120 --> 00:42:05,884 because pretty soon this is not going to be worth it. 604 00:42:06,257 --> 00:42:07,485 We have to decide... 605 00:42:07,725 --> 00:42:08,692 if we gonna go west 606 00:42:08,926 --> 00:42:12,828 Well, we have to get away from these rocks and and these kopjes our here 607 00:42:13,063 --> 00:42:15,293 before we can do anything in a straight line, so. 608 00:42:15,666 --> 00:42:19,193 But we can't go back now. We've got to go on. 609 00:42:19,436 --> 00:42:20,266 Okay. 610 00:42:26,110 --> 00:42:28,044 Mark, I don't think you can get through that way. 611 00:42:28,779 --> 00:42:29,609 Trust me. 612 00:42:37,288 --> 00:42:37,947 Mark! 613 00:42:39,123 --> 00:42:40,818 Forging on toward their river goal, 614 00:42:41,058 --> 00:42:43,891 Delia and Mark face one difficulty after the other. 615 00:42:44,194 --> 00:42:45,525 Do you see anything, Mark? 616 00:42:45,763 --> 00:42:46,286 What? 617 00:42:46,530 --> 00:42:47,394 Do you see anything? 618 00:42:47,631 --> 00:42:48,461 No. 619 00:42:49,767 --> 00:42:51,166 So what do you think we did wrong? 620 00:42:51,869 --> 00:42:54,201 Well, the only thing I can think of is that we stayed left and we should have 621 00:42:54,438 --> 00:42:56,406 I mean we branched right when we should have stayed left. 622 00:42:56,774 --> 00:42:59,208 Because this track hasn't matched the one thas on the chart at all. 623 00:43:00,411 --> 00:43:03,073 It can take all day to drive around some small streams. 624 00:43:06,317 --> 00:43:08,979 In four days they travel just 50 miles 625 00:43:10,254 --> 00:43:13,917 See that little cut in the bank there? I wonder if there's any hope there. 626 00:43:21,565 --> 00:43:25,126 A tourist camp burned out by poachers, 627 00:43:26,303 --> 00:43:28,794 abandoned now because it cannot be protected. 628 00:43:30,874 --> 00:43:33,274 It doesn't look like the camp was even that old. 629 00:43:33,644 --> 00:43:35,874 I mean the mud daub and so forth doesn't look like it 630 00:43:37,314 --> 00:43:39,214 had been done very long ago. 631 00:43:47,191 --> 00:43:51,287 This is heavy duty stuff, you know. This could be us. 632 00:43:51,528 --> 00:43:55,589 Yeah. If we have a camp here, we have to have an armed guard at our camp. 633 00:43:56,233 --> 00:43:59,259 And at the airplane and at the boats and at the vehicles. 634 00:44:02,740 --> 00:44:04,970 The sight of the burned-out camp is sobering. 635 00:44:11,682 --> 00:44:14,276 A poacher's tracks add a sense of present danger. 636 00:44:16,320 --> 00:44:18,515 Mark, just don't follow those spoor, okay? 637 00:44:18,756 --> 00:44:21,156 Just come on back because I'm worried that they probably have guns 638 00:44:21,392 --> 00:44:23,519 and you're in there alone. Over. 639 00:44:25,029 --> 00:44:27,020 Yeah, I'm following them right down the damn stream bed, 640 00:44:27,264 --> 00:44:28,322 right up the stream bed. 641 00:44:30,701 --> 00:44:34,193 Deeply discouraged, but too far into the wilderness to turn back, 642 00:44:34,438 --> 00:44:36,497 Delia and Mark push on to the river. 643 00:44:37,241 --> 00:44:39,300 They had hoped this might be their next home. 644 00:44:41,679 --> 00:44:44,705 Oh, wow! Is beautiful. 645 00:44:45,149 --> 00:44:45,706 Oh, man. 646 00:44:45,949 --> 00:44:47,211 Look at it. 647 00:44:49,186 --> 00:44:50,585 Oh, God. 648 00:44:52,890 --> 00:44:54,551 Wow, what a spot. 649 00:45:18,449 --> 00:45:19,416 What the hell is that thing? 650 00:45:20,350 --> 00:45:21,510 We've made it to the river, but look at this. 651 00:45:21,752 --> 00:45:23,743 Is either for drying fish or for drying meat. 652 00:45:29,793 --> 00:45:31,021 I don't see any fish bones. 653 00:45:31,361 --> 00:45:33,522 Is a meat-drying rack. Is poaching. 654 00:45:33,764 --> 00:45:34,822 I can smell the meat on it. 655 00:45:35,733 --> 00:45:37,564 I mean this is just about the most discouraging place 656 00:45:37,801 --> 00:45:38,790 I've seen in a long time. 657 00:45:39,503 --> 00:45:41,562 The whole bloody park is being sterilized by it. 658 00:45:44,041 --> 00:45:44,769 Really. 659 00:45:48,879 --> 00:45:50,574 At least they can't use it again anyway. 660 00:45:53,250 --> 00:45:54,148 We should burn this. 661 00:45:54,785 --> 00:45:59,313 They need to know that somebody was here. We need to put a warning. 662 00:46:09,166 --> 00:46:11,066 At least they'll have to go to more trouble the next time 663 00:46:11,368 --> 00:46:12,892 they want to dry the meat. 664 00:46:14,204 --> 00:46:16,104 Their frustration and anger mount 665 00:46:16,340 --> 00:46:19,036 as they discover more and more evidence of slaughter. 666 00:46:27,718 --> 00:46:30,551 In some areas elephant skulls litter the ground. 667 00:46:37,828 --> 00:46:40,956 You can stand in this spot and you can see four to five dead elephants. 668 00:46:42,032 --> 00:46:44,694 I think is despicable; I think is appalling; 669 00:46:44,935 --> 00:46:47,927 I think is a tragic commentary on the state 670 00:46:48,172 --> 00:46:50,265 of world conservation that his sort of thing can go on. 671 00:46:52,309 --> 00:46:53,742 And I just keep wondering 672 00:46:53,977 --> 00:46:55,808 when the world is going to wake up and really take some action. 673 00:46:58,182 --> 00:47:01,982 Mark's frustration is fueled by the knowledge that in just 12 years 674 00:47:02,219 --> 00:47:05,814 one hundred thousand elephants in the Luangwa Valley have been killed. 675 00:47:08,392 --> 00:47:11,919 They are being destroyed for their ivory, which is carved into trinkets, 676 00:47:12,162 --> 00:47:14,858 coffee table decorations, and works of art. 677 00:47:16,834 --> 00:47:19,268 The fashion that leads people to buy ivory, collect it, 678 00:47:19,503 --> 00:47:22,165 and wear it contributes to the destruction 679 00:47:22,406 --> 00:47:24,306 of these magnificent creatures. 680 00:47:30,214 --> 00:47:33,547 Distressed by what they have seen, Delia and Mark search further. 681 00:47:34,017 --> 00:47:36,611 They have been told that North Luangwa National Park 682 00:47:36,854 --> 00:47:38,378 is still an untouched wilderness. 683 00:47:40,591 --> 00:47:42,320 They make a flying reconnaissance. 684 00:47:49,566 --> 00:47:50,624 Thas beautiful river! 685 00:47:50,868 --> 00:47:51,857 Yeah, a beautiful river. 686 00:47:52,903 --> 00:47:54,200 We can work this habitat, too. 687 00:47:54,571 --> 00:47:57,131 Especially along the river channels it looks quite open. 688 00:47:58,508 --> 00:48:00,976 It looks very possible in terms of moving around with the truck, 689 00:48:02,079 --> 00:48:05,207 and I think I'll be able to spot from the airplane quite well, too. 690 00:48:08,952 --> 00:48:10,579 Is fantastic country. 691 00:48:11,121 --> 00:48:13,146 Yeah. This place is full of animals. 692 00:48:13,423 --> 00:48:14,014 Full of what? 693 00:48:14,258 --> 00:48:14,986 Full of animals. 694 00:48:15,225 --> 00:48:16,886 Yeah. Look for lions. 695 00:48:18,996 --> 00:48:20,691 People have said this is the Cinderella park of Zambia. 696 00:48:20,931 --> 00:48:22,262 I believe it. 697 00:48:22,499 --> 00:48:25,297 It needs work. They don't know how many animals there are. 698 00:48:25,535 --> 00:48:26,627 It needs quantitative work. 699 00:48:38,782 --> 00:48:40,409 Did you tell them we saw lions? 700 00:48:40,651 --> 00:48:45,179 We saw lions three females with three little cubs and wild dogs. 701 00:48:46,056 --> 00:48:48,115 What have I got? Soot on my nose? 702 00:48:50,827 --> 00:48:53,955 Only one track leads down the escarpment into the Rift Valley 703 00:48:54,665 --> 00:48:59,034 Delia will drive it alone. Mark flies down with the airplane, 704 00:48:59,703 --> 00:49:02,729 and when he lands, is greeted by a forlorn sight. 705 00:49:07,044 --> 00:49:11,504 My forlorn little Boo. Oh, I'm so glad you're not hurt. 706 00:49:12,649 --> 00:49:14,241 I don't know what happened, Mark. 707 00:49:14,484 --> 00:49:16,008 Listen, I couldn't have done it better myself. 708 00:49:16,253 --> 00:49:17,117 I think is beautiful. 709 00:49:19,056 --> 00:49:20,216 See, the trailer's in line. 710 00:49:20,457 --> 00:49:22,857 It was perfect. And then it just took off on its own. 711 00:49:24,061 --> 00:49:25,494 So I climbed out of there in a hurry. 712 00:49:25,729 --> 00:49:28,630 I believe. You came out lie a jack-in-the-box. 713 00:49:31,501 --> 00:49:32,627 You can check the gear oil... 714 00:49:32,869 --> 00:49:35,030 Yeah, I can grease the drive train, 715 00:49:35,272 --> 00:49:37,433 check the springs. 716 00:49:38,742 --> 00:49:40,039 I'm sorry. 717 00:49:45,182 --> 00:49:49,118 I think I'll have a Perrier water with lime and ice, 718 00:49:49,353 --> 00:49:55,121 and shrimp cocktail served on half a avocado. 719 00:49:56,460 --> 00:50:01,261 And then what shall we have? Cheesecake with cherries on top? 720 00:50:02,432 --> 00:50:03,524 There she goes! 721 00:50:27,924 --> 00:50:30,415 What a difference as they travel this track. 722 00:50:31,628 --> 00:50:34,324 These animals have not yet learned to fear man. 723 00:50:35,832 --> 00:50:37,356 But North Luangwa Park, 724 00:50:37,601 --> 00:50:41,128 for lack of manpower and resources, is virtually defenseless. 725 00:50:41,705 --> 00:50:44,833 It could go the way of Kafue in just a few years unless Zambia, 726 00:50:45,075 --> 00:50:47,805 together with the international community, 727 00:50:48,045 --> 00:50:49,842 commits greater resources to its protection. 728 00:51:14,504 --> 00:51:17,268 Paradise for Delia and Mark is a place 729 00:51:17,507 --> 00:51:20,340 where the lions are unconcerned by their presence. 730 00:51:20,577 --> 00:51:25,071 Never see a desert lion up this time of day moving around. 731 00:51:26,917 --> 00:51:29,852 She's really used to us now, Mark. She's just ignoring us. 732 00:51:34,191 --> 00:51:35,556 Look at the puku across the river. 733 00:51:37,761 --> 00:51:39,922 This place excites me. Yeah. 734 00:51:40,163 --> 00:51:41,255 It really does. 735 00:51:44,634 --> 00:51:46,932 Is good to be watching lions again. 736 00:51:50,040 --> 00:51:52,008 I think maybe we've found a home. Yeah. 737 00:51:55,045 --> 00:51:59,106 Here is a place where two research scientists could dedicated ten years 738 00:51:59,349 --> 00:52:01,715 of their lives and hope to make a difference. 739 00:52:07,924 --> 00:52:08,982 I want to get in the water. 740 00:52:09,226 --> 00:52:11,023 All right, come on. 741 00:52:20,770 --> 00:52:21,862 Watch and all. 742 00:52:24,407 --> 00:52:27,137 There's more water here than we saw in seven years in the Kalahari. 743 00:52:28,578 --> 00:52:29,704 I think we should get some soap... 744 00:52:29,946 --> 00:52:32,710 If we can't be happy here, I don't think there's a place left in Africa. 745 00:52:34,050 --> 00:52:38,111 Well, this is great. You could at least take your boots off. 746 00:52:39,689 --> 00:52:41,589 Can you imagine living next to water? 747 00:52:43,460 --> 00:52:44,586 And without people? 748 00:52:45,395 --> 00:52:46,157 And a lot of game. 749 00:52:47,164 --> 00:52:49,758 Oh, man! You know the thing is about this place is that 750 00:52:50,000 --> 00:52:53,458 there's a lot here to work with, You Know. 751 00:52:54,471 --> 00:52:58,339 Is a place where you can sort of put your heart and be happy for years. 752 00:52:58,875 --> 00:53:02,072 Delia and Mark Owens started out 13 years 753 00:53:02,646 --> 00:53:04,273 with a passion for wildlife, 754 00:53:04,748 --> 00:53:06,409 with extraordinary pluck, 755 00:53:06,650 --> 00:53:08,675 and with the hope that they could make 756 00:53:08,919 --> 00:53:11,319 contribution to the preservation of a precious heritage. 757 00:53:12,255 --> 00:53:16,885 They stood up for conservation and heavy personal and professional price. 758 00:53:17,994 --> 00:53:21,361 The was been hard, the future is uncertain, 759 00:53:21,598 --> 00:53:25,159 but still they hold steadfast to their dream.