NARRATOR: In Africa's
last absolute monarchy,
giants shape the land.
With brute strength
and sheer size,
they mold their environment...
...creating a world for animals
of all shapes and sizes.
This is a kingdom
where some of Africa's
most threatened species rule.
These are the savannahs
of wild Swaziland.
♪ ♪
NARRATOR:
A lone bull elephant
is foraging in the riverine
forests of Swaziland.
He's bulldozing trees
to get at the juiciest leaves.
No other species,
apart from humans,
has the ability to change their
environment to the same degree.
As such, elephants are
referred to as keystone species,
or animals which are key
to the survival of many others.
By knocking down
or killing trees,
elephants clear space
for grasses
and other plants to grow.
And they are not the only
landscape architects at work
in Swaziland's savannahs.
White rhino have an effect
on the surroundings
almost as dramatic.
But while elephants
affect the skyline,
these giants mow the lawns.
This baby is only
ten months old,
too young to leave
his mother's side.
He's only just begun
eating grass,
and will continue to suckle
from his mother
for another year or so.
Weighing as much as an SUV,
white rhinos are formidable,
but junior still has
some growing to do,
so for the moment,
it's safer to stay close to Mom.
Swaziland is a small,
landlocked kingdom
surrounded by South Africa
and Mozambique.
Of all the countries
in southern Africa,
it is perhaps best known
for its ruthless approach
to poaching.
Large animals, such as elephants
and rhinos, are cherished here,
meaning that Swaziland's vibrant
ecosystems are flourishing.
From vast, flat, grassy
savannahs scattered with trees
to dense riverine thickets,
plants and animals both big
and small are benefitting
thanks to Swaziland's
wild landscape architects.
(birds chirping)
Elephants are Swaziland's most
important wildlife architects.
They are mixed feeders
and browse leaves from branches
and graze from the ground.
Their trunks are a marvel,
allowing them to reach
as high as twenty feet
up into the canopy
to pick leaves.
Trunks contain
more than 40,000 muscles,
making them extremely dexterous.
Elephants have one of the most
diverse diets
of all savannah animals.
Nothing is out of reach.
They are remarkably nimble
for such a large animal,
able to harvest plants
with the grace of a ballerina.
This bull consumes approximately
five percent of his body weight,
650 pounds of food,
every day.
Salivary glands
in the mouth and throat
produce mucus to lubricate even
the toughest plant material.
An elephant's digestive system
processes less than half
of the food it eats.
But his leftovers
are full of nutrients,
and in the savannah,
nothing goes to waste.
(bird cawing)
The fresh droppings soon attract
two copper dung beetles.
More than 2,000 species
of dung beetle thrive
across sub-Saharan Africa.
They are nature's own
clean-up crew.
These balls are food for them
and their young.
Dung is a valued commodity,
and these beetles
have hit pay dirt.
The smaller beetle struggles
to form a perfect ball.
Dung beetles use their
specially adapted front legs
to pat the dung
into smooth balls.
But there are more ways
to get your hands on a ball
in this business.
The bigger beetle
is having none of it,
and he throws the little one
off his ball.
As quickly as possible,
he rolls his ball away
to bury it.
If he's lucky,
his ball will attract a mate
and she will lay eggs in it.
The bull moves on, oblivious
of the world at his feet.
Elephants have massive impacts
on the landscape.
They clear trees,
creating open spaces
in dense vegetation,
which is good
for many other species.
Grass colonizes
the resulting patches,
creating a mosaic of habitats.
But if there are
too many elephants,
this behavior kills
too many trees,
reducing plant diversity
in the area.
In Swaziland, elephants
have a particular taste
for knob-thorn acacias,
so named for its knobbly trunk
and branches.
Some believe that elephants
eat the bark of knob-thorns
to benefit from its
natural healing properties.
But this has severe consequences
for the tree,
as removing the bark
is a death sentence.
Even damaged trunks
offer shelter, however.
Spotted green snakes
are expert climbers,
at home in the broken trees.
They live a solitary existence
hunting for small reptiles
and frogs.
While the green snakes
are making the most
of the new habitat
in the dead trees,
another larger individual
is enjoying the grass
that's sprouted in the sunshine.
White rhinos are also known
as wide-lipped rhinoceros.
White rhinos are not named
for their color,
but rather because
of a bad translation.
The Dutch word for wide
is wiejd,
referring to the rhino's
broad lips.
This was mistaken for "white"
by the first
English-speaking explorers,
and hence these rhinos
became known as white rhino.
They are the largest living
rhino species
and eat only grass.
White rhinos are the largest
species ever to have existed
solely on a diet
of this simple plant.
They are bulk grazers
and can tolerate
even old, dry grass.
By removing this old grass,
they create short-cropped areas
called grazing lawns.
(snorting)
These are important
for other animals,
such as wildebeest and zebra,
which rely on the mega mowers
to stimulate new growth
for grazing.
Wildebeest and zebra
often share savannah grasslands.
Zebra eat longer grass
than wildebeest, and therefore
they do not compete
with each other for food.
Not only do they not compete,
but wildebeest often benefit
by following grazing zebras
when the grass
is too long for them.
In this part of Swaziland,
there are no large predators,
as it is too small for animals
such as lions,
which need large territories
and home ranges.
Even in a land
without predators,
prey species do not lose their
instinct to run when frightened.
Tsessebe are Africa's
fastest antelope.
They can reach speeds of
up to 50 miles an hour.
Their speed gives them
a certain confidence.
When chased, they will run
for a short distance,
stop to check on their pursuers,
and then continue if necessary.
Even calves are fleet of foot.
They are capable
of keeping up with the herd
within a few hours of birth.
Red-billed oxpeckers
prefer less flighty hosts.
They are iconic savannah birds
and rely on large mammals
to survive.
Oxpeckers eat ticks
and blood-sucking flies
that are attracted to herds.
Their curved claws are sharp
and perfectly adapted
for hanging onto skin and fur.
Short, sturdy tails
support the birds
even as they pluck ticks from
the most hard-to-reach places.
Buffalos tolerate
their picky passengers
because in return
for an easy meal,
the oxpeckers not only remove
disease-carrying ticks,
but also provide
an early warning system.
(birds squawking)
If the oxpeckers suspect danger,
they sound the alarm,
and the buffalo move off.
On the fringes of the grassland,
a herd of giraffes is feeding
on the dense riverine forest.
Giraffes gain access
to these forests
along pathways opened up
by elephants and rhinos.
Males are taller than females,
capable of stretching
twenty feet into the canopy.
Giraffes are social
and live together
in loose, open herds,
but as they grow older,
males tend to wander alone.
While aggression
between rival males is fierce,
females live in relative peace.
They are even unperturbed by the
white rhino mum and her calf.
♪ ♪
The tufts of hair on their horns
distinguish cows from bulls.
Male horns are bare
and usually thicker.
While giraffes have the pick
of the leaves from the canopy,
other browsers inhabit
the shadowy forests below.
Nyala live a quiet life
in the riverine thicket.
They are generalists,
browsing from bushes
and grazing grass.
But this female
is chewing on a bone.
Some herbivores eat bones
when their food lacks
sufficient minerals.
This is called osteophagy.
The bones are a good source
of phosphorous and calcium
that help build her own bones.
She won't swallow the bone,
but will discard it
when she's had enough.
Male and female nyala
look strikingly different.
This young calf
has just sprouted his horns.
Only males grow horns,
which they use
for fighting and display.
While he's young,
he looks like his mother.
But as he grows, his coat
will darken and lengthen
and he will lose
some of his stripes.
He will also grow much bigger
than his mother.
Male nyala are 20% larger
than females
and nearly double the weight.
This results in a strange
naming convention.
In large antelope,
males are referred to as bulls,
while in small antelope,
they are known as rams.
Similarly, females are called
cows and ewes.
Because of their size,
male nyala are thought of
as a large antelope
and are called bulls,
while females are considered
a small antelope
and are referred to as ewes.
They are the only antelope split
in this manner.
They rarely gather
in large herds.
The only stable bond is between
a mother and her offspring.
Even after being weaned
at six months,
nyala calves
will stay with their mother
until she calves again.
(bird calling)
In the riverine forest,
a more tight-knit family
finds sanctuary.
It's unusual for warthogs
to spend time in forests.
They're adapted to life
in open grasslands and savannahs
and usually avoid
dense vegetation.
But these wily pigs
have figured out
that there are
no large predators here
and it's safe to forage
in the thickets.
Warthogs are the only pigs that
forage while on their knees.
Hard callouses form,
making it comfortable for them
to root around.
Plow-like snouts
snuffle through the dirt
to find roots and tubers,
their favorite food.
Female piglets remain with
their families for many years,
while males tend to strike out
on their own.
A group of warthogs
is called a sounder,
and in these families,
Mom leads the way.
She's taking her family
to her favorite waterhole.
(rhino snorting)
Waterholes are magnets of life,
and the coming and going
of giants
has important repercussions.
By wallowing,
they can enlarge small springs,
making little dams.
White rhino moms
have their favorite spots.
Lying in the cool water,
they escape the fierce
midday sun.
Rhinos may have thick skin,
but they are sensitive
to the sun's rays
and get badly sunburned.
A layer of mud acts as sunblock.
It also helps remove parasites.
This terrapin is a more
permanent resident
of this waterhole.
He feeds on anything
from frogs to water plants
and will even nip ticks
off wallowing rhinos.
Rhinos visit water every day
if possible,
but they can go three days
without drinking if need be.
This is particularly important
in the drier winter months,
when grasses hold less moisture.
Young calves
don't suffer as much
because they get most
of their water
from their mother's milk.
Female white rhinos live
in overlapping territories
and usually tolerate each other.
But in the close quarters
at this waterhole,
tempers are running high.
Tensions quickly dissipate
in the afternoon heat, however.
It's just not worth taking
things further.
All animals benefit
from bigger waterholes
created by savannah giants,
but none more so than hippos,
who spend nearly all day
wallowing in deeper pools.
 Hippopotamus means
"river horse" in Greek,
but they are not related
to horses at all.
Their closest relatives
are pigs and whales.
Hippos are remarkably
well adapted
to their amphibious lifestyles.
Nostrils, eyes, and ears
are all positioned
on the top of their head
so they can breathe,
see, and hear
while almost entirely submerged.
Surprisingly,
hippos do not eat in the water.
They wallow during the day,
but at night, they emerge
to graze in the surroundings,
also creating grazing lawns
for other species.
Calves are born underwater.
Babies even suckle underwater.
Hippos are social,
wallowing together
in large groups
of males and females
dominated by an alpha male.
Only alpha males get to mate.
Hippos are only sociable
in the water,
and when they come out
to graze at night,
they remain solitary.
To prevent burning,
their sweat contains a natural
red-colored sunscreen.
So, despite looking like someone
who's spent too long
lying on the beach, this pink
individual is not sunburned.
The warthogs have also arrived
at the waterhole.
Their relatively small size
means they're not entirely safe.
Crocodiles are one
of the few predators present
in this reserve.
One by one, they sniff the croc
as they pass.
The bigger you are,
the less you have to fear,
and the croc is no more
than a passing curiosity
for the rhinos.
The croc senses an opportunity.
And the warthogs decide
it's better to cut
their mud bath short.
Having applied their sunblock,
the rhinos return to graze
in the afternoon sun.
White rhinos are semi-social.
They associate quite loosely
with each other
and wander the open grasslands
in small groups,
unlike the more coordinated
herds of species
such as elephants or buffalo.
Black rhinos are less numerous
than white rhino
and weigh only half
their white counterparts.
They also eat a very
different diet, and together,
this means they have less impact
on their surroundings.
Black rhinos have pointed,
flexible upper lips,
and this makes them easy
to discern
from their wide-lipped
counterparts.
The two species coexist
on the African savannah
because they eat
distinctly different diets.
Black rhinos are browsers
and use their prehensile lips
to selectively browse
from trees and bushes.
They are bad tempered
and pose a real danger
if encountered on foot.
They charge when threatened.
Rhinos have poor eyesight
and rely on their excellent
sense of smell and scent marking
to communicate.
Dung middens mark territories
and also contain scents,
which are an important form of
communication for black rhinos.
In addition to dung middens,
males mark their territory
by urine-spraying.
Males are the only ones
to do so.
Populations of both black
and white rhinos are growing.
This is despite poaching.
More than 300 rhinos a year
are killed for their horn,
which is a prized commodity
in many Asian countries.
It is ground up and used
as traditional medicine
to treat nosebleeds, strokes,
convulsions, and fevers.
But rhino horn
is no more than keratin,
the same substance
as our own fingernails,
and it has no proven
medical benefits whatsoever.
The scarcity of rhinos
and the high demand
for horn products
means that rhino horn is worth
more than its weight in gold.
If poaching continues
at its current rate,
the future of Africa's rhinos
is uncertain.
Thanks to aggressive
anti-poaching policies,
Swaziland's rhinos
are safe for now.
Rhinos often have sores on their
skin from a parasitic worm,
which lives
in their dung middens.
While these open sores
look uncomfortable,
they do not overly affect
the rhino's health.
Well-worn scratching posts
are the perfect thing
to remove ticks
and other parasites,
especially in those awkward
nooks and crannies.
The afternoon wears on.
And at the waterhole,
four old male buffalo arrive
to drink.
Old timers like these are
no longer welcome in the herd
and have been chased out
by the dominant male.
They lead solitary lives
or gather in small
bachelor herds
seldom more than four or five
in strength.
Old male buffalo
are called daga boys.
"Daga" is a common local term
for mud.
They are renowned
for their bad temper
and are the grumpy old men
of the savannah.
(birds calling)
More often heard than seen,
crested guinea fowl
fossick through the leaves
of the riverine forest
surrounding the waterhole.
They benefit
from the comings and goings
surrounding the water
as animals turn up the ground
with their hooves.
This large group
is made of several monogamous
breeding pairs.
They flock for safety
and stick to their preferred
forested habitats.
Feeding on a mixed diet
of fruits and seeds,
and they will even take grubs
and insects.
They often follow vervet monkeys
and feed on morsels
dropped from above.
(elephant making low rumble)
(birds calling)
When water is available,
elephants visit
at least once a day.
They drink as much
as ten gallons of water,
using their trunks to suck up
2-1/2 gallons at a time.
They have an incredible
sense of smell,
thought to be four times more
sensitive than bloodhounds'.
(birds squawking)
Like rhinos,
elephants are also suffering
at the hands of poachers.
It's estimated 35,000 elephants
are killed each year in Africa.
But in Swaziland,
they are protected,
ensuring the vital role
they play in the environment
continues uninterrupted.
The savannahs of Swaziland
are home to animals
both big and small.
Each one playing a pivotal role
in the ecosystem.
Large keystone species create
a diverse mosaic of habitats.
Vulnerable giants prosper
under the king's protection.
Life is abundant.
This is the wild kingdom
of Swaziland.
Captioned by Media Access Group
at WGBH, access.wgbh.org
