In a place defined by blistering heat -
a desolate white wasteland dominates.
Scattered oases on its margins attract thirsty herds.
All life is driven
by the back and forth search for food and water.
This is the continual ebb and flow of Etosha;
The Great White Place.
♪♪
As day breaks in Etosha National Park,
a Black backed jackal quenches his thirst at a waterhole.
The little scavenger is vulnerable to attack
by bigger predators,
and is always wary.
After a drink
he wastes no time in moving on.
As he exits
a flock of Helmeted guinea fowl quickly emerges.
They'd make a good meal for the jackal,
and have been waiting in the surrounding bush
keeping a safe distance.
With the coast clear
they take their opportunity to drink from the only water source
for miles around.
Their home is in Namibia,
in south west Africa.
It's a country dominated by baking heat and parched sands
and renowned for its natural beauty.
In the north, one national park stands out.
At just under 8,800 square miles,
Etosha is as big as the state of New Jersey.
Around a quarter of it is covered
by a vast barren expanse -
where nothing grows.
Known as the Etosha salt pan,
it was once a saline lake.
But 2.5 million years ago,
changes in the environment gradually desiccated it,
leaving behind soil too salty for plants to survive.
This is the extreme
of a park defined by unforgiving conditions.
Annual rainfall averages a mere 10 inches.
In the peak of summer,
temperatures can reach a staggering
117 degrees Fahrenheit.
All life here runs to a rhythm fueled by water.
To the south of the salt pan,
waterholes are scattered throughout the dry veld.
These act as the driving force of the park,
directing the movement and survival of every species.
Without these oases,
life would cease to exist in this barren land.
But water isn't the main concern here;
food is.
During the dry season,
the animals concentrated around Etosha's waterholes
deplete all available food -
forcing them to travel further afield
in search of sustenance.
All lives here revolve around this constant movement
between food and water.
For the birds, the to and fro
starts with mornings at the waterhole.
Before long, large flocks join the guinea fowl.
Cape turtle-doves spend most of their time alone or in pairs.
But they congregate in flocks
to drink in the morning and evening.
Drinking side by side
means more eyes on the lookout for predators.
Other small species have a strategy
to avoid the imposing crowds.
A Fork-tailed drongo drinks on the wing.
Pied crows on the other hand,
are given plenty of space.
Their bigger frames and mean looking beaks
keep the others at bay.
The pair of Namaqua sand grouse behind them
may have flown as far as 40 miles to quench their thirst.
The crow is unlikely to attack them,
but at half its size,
they dare not get too close.
Across the waterhole,
a more threatening Gabar goshawk
isn't here to drink.
But the bird of prey isn't hunting either.
Remarkably it's eating blades of grass.
He's having trouble regurgitating
pellets of indigestible hair and bone.
And the only green grass for miles around
will help trigger a purge of his digestive tract.
While the early birds take their turn on the water's edge,
a terrapin soaks up the warmth of the steadily rising sun.
Despite the lack of rain,
there's always water available here.
The natural spring rises to the surface
from the rocky substrate deep below ground.
It gives this largely aquatic creature a home in a dry land.
While he warms himself,
the day's business begins to unfold around him.
It's not long before the larger animals arrive.
Throughout the park animals seek out waterholes;
Beginning their day with a drink.
The enticing water excites even the most nervous kudu.
Herds of Impala soon join them,
As do thirsty zebra.
Kudu spend most of their time in the safety of cover,
relying on camouflage to escape the attention of predators.
A mature kudu bull's horns
can grow as long as five feet,
the longest of any antelope.
These two evenly matched bulls
may soon compete for the right to mate
with the females between them.
But for now their only concern is satisfying their thirst.
As the largest land mammals on the planet,
African elephants have nothing to fear.
And in a league of giants,
Etosha's elephants stand out above the rest.
They are the biggest on the continent.
And these big bodies build up quite a thirst.
Elephants drink up to 60 gallons of water a day.
The herd's matriarch determines when they will drink,
and leads her clan to water.
With over 50 years of experience
she's developed intricate maps of Etosha in her mind.
She's able to pinpoint the closest waterhole
up to 31 miles away.
This is the ultimate tool for surviving in the desert.
The herd consists of the matriarch's offspring
and her grandchildren.
Still clumsy with their trunks, it takes a while
for the babies to assert control over these awkward appendages.
An elephant's trunk
has two finger-like projections at the tip,
allowing for maximum dexterity.
These trunks are their livelihood,
allowing them to drink by sucking up the water,
and snorting it out into their mouths.
Soon the babies will show expert control of their long snouts,
just like their elders.
Elephants are vigilant mothers.
They never let their calves wander far from their side.
And surrounded by their enormous family,
calves need not fear the park's predators.
Under the care and guidance of the herd,
they will gradually learn the routes to water themselves.
Impala lack the elephants' size advantage
and are more vulnerable to attack.
But with many members,
they always have eyes on the lookout
that allow a pair of young males to indulge in distraction.
They size each other up in a game of strength.
This practice prepares them for the world of serious competition
that awaits them.
But if they hope to challenge a big ram like this,
hey have some growing up to do.
With no territory or mates to be won yet,
they're not fully committed to the contest.
As the day moves on,
hunger takes the place of a sated thirst
for the animals at the waterhole.
With the dry season's tightening grip,
the land surrounding the waterhole is exhausted
of good quality fodder.
To find enough to eat,
the herds must disperse away from this center of activity.
In their own time,
they all head off to begin their search for food.
For the young suckling kudu,
sustenance is always on hand.
But the rest of the herd
must leave the sanctuary of the water to eat.
He carefully follows,
ears pricked and always alert.
The elephants follow the lead of the matriarch,
who heads west.
In the search for food
her experience will once again prove crucial.
Heading the wrong way
could take the elephants onto the sprawling salt pan,
where there is no sustenance to be found.
Here they would face a choice
between two equally unattractive options.
Turn around
or face the 30 mile trek to the other side
under the beating sun.
To the south of the salt pan
there is sustenance available to those who know where to find it.
This giraffe has spent the morning
feeding on the leaves of acacia trees.
At more than 16 feet tall,
giraffe are adapted to take advantage of a feeding niche
few others can -
at the tops of trees.
They can go several days without drinking;
getting the moisture they need from their food.
But in the height of winter, when the park is driest,
even Etosha's hardiest vegetation like the acacia,
has little to offer in the way of moisture.
So this giraffe must also strike out
across the park's barren lands,
though his is a quest for water.
While cows stick together in herds,
this bull cuts a lonely form
in the stark landscape.
There is little for him here in the grasslands
except the promise of a satisfying drink
on the other side.
But some are far more at home on the grasslands than him.
Gemsbok thrive away from water
and are among the most iconic species
of the African desert.
Their bodies are well designed
to cope with the harsh conditions.
They too can go days without drinking -
and are even more independent of water than the giraffe.
Their kidneys have evolved to conserve water,
by concentrating their urine to minimize water loss.
This allows them to travel far across Etosha's flat grasslands,
feeding as they go.
These flats border the salt pan
and have shallow, saline soils.
Only the hardiest desert grasses survive.
This small herd follows the lead of its alpha male.
With his guidance and their ability to range far from water,
they can subsist mainly on these grasses.
But for the park's elephants
things are different.
A pair of bulls is making the trek across Etosha's
dry, open land.
They scrape what sustenance they can from the grass,
but it's not enough to give them the hundreds of pounds
they need in a day.
Now, during the dry season,
elephants must drink daily
and prefer to remain within two and a half miles of water.
But they may travel more than 10 miles
to find the trees they need to satisfy their hunger.
While Etosha's elephants may be the biggest in the world,
they have a handicap
that stands testament to their dry environment.
Almost half of the elephants' tusks in Etosha
are fractured or broken -
the highest rate of any elephant population.
This is directly related to the area's low rainfall.
It may be due to fighting over water sources;
or the tusks weakening due to dehydration
but the most likely explanation
is the lack of nutrients in the elephants' food.
These bulls must cross this foreboding land
to reach more suitable fodder.
As they travel the day gets hotter and hotter.
For a herd of Zebra the heat is becoming almost unbearable.
Many of the mares are pregnant
and will give birth in early summer
when rains give their young the best chance at survival.
It will be this particular mare's second birth.
Her current foal is around a year old.
To prepare herself for the new arrival,
she's started to wean him.
She needs to conserve her milk and energy.
The herd would usually spend almost all day grazing
to maintain their health.
But the temperature has risen
above a hundred degrees Fahrenheit
and the heat paralyzes them.
Tied to the waterhole,
they avoid activity at all costs
and it's all they can do to wait out the worst of it.
But the heat may be a blessing in disguise.
Even the strongest of animals are rendered weak
by the severity of Etosha's climate.
The zebra are unaware of a male lion in the grass.
But he has no interest in them.
The midday sun has drained his energy too.
He can't even muster a flick of his tail.
He will wait until dusk
when his eyesight is better than the zebras'
and when the heat has dissipated.
At this time of year
all animals must take advantage of what's on offer.
Scavengers like the jackal
rely largely on carrion from predator kills.
But when there's no carrion to be had,
he's adept at making the most of his dry environment.
He's an omnivore
and will eat almost anything he can find,
including termites.
Although not his meal of first choice,
he has no qualms about digging into the pile of insects.
He's constantly alert.
For there are always those looking to take advantage
of the success of others.
A pair of northern Black korhaans skulks nearby,
Eager to get their fill.
The jackal would happily change his meal from insects to birds.
So the korhaans keep their distance.
As much as 30 percent of their diet can consist of plant matter
like grass seeds.
And Etosha's grasslands have seeds in plenty,
so these birds survive in high numbers.
Males defend display territories of 2000 to 3000 square feet,
and compete for the attention of females.
For the korhaans, males will fight for territory come summer
but for now
they settle with calling loudly to advertise their presence.
For some in Etosha, the battle for dominance
is a more constant concern.
A pair of Gemsbok males battles for rank and territory.
In a land where food is scarce,
it's a huge investment of energy for both.
The cause of the aggression is not far away -
a tiny waterhole.
Access to water is a prize worth fighting for.
Gemsbok usually get
most of the moisture they need from their food,
which includes tubers and wild melons
dug from below ground.
But at this time of year these are in short supply,
so even Gemsbok must drink.
This small sunken waterhole
attracts herds from far and wide.
A family of warthogs is here too,
trying unsuccessfully to escape the beating sun.
Over the years
Etosha's animals have dug deeper and deeper into the sands here
to access the little available water.
There's enough to satisfy the Gemsbok for now.
Soon enough they all resume their grazing,
covering ground to find enough quality grass to get by.
For the giraffe, desperate times call for desperate measures.
His journey to water is sapping vital energy
and out here he must go to unusual lengths to eat.
When you're built for feeding in the treetops,
grazing at ground level is a tall order.
For two elephant bulls, the day's journey has been worth it.
Like the giraffe
they rely largely on Etosha's trees for sustenance.
They've arrived in a stand of woodland,
and they don't just eat the leaves.
Elephants have incredibly varied diets
and can take sustenance from almost all parts of a plant
including branches and their bark.
These mature bulls use their trunks with expert dexterity.
Picking what they fancy
before grinding it between massive molars.
Their stark white color
comes from dusting themselves with the park's pale soil
for defense against the sun's harsh rays.
But while it protects their skin
it can't cool them down.
For this they rely on their ears.
Elephant ears can be 6-1/2 feet long and 5 feet wide.
They have extensive networks of veins
beneath a thin layer of skin.
Continuous flapping
causes airflow to cool the blood in these veins,
which helps to cool the whole body.
When males reach puberty,
they're extradited from the herd
and become bachelors.
These males each spend long stretches alone.
But for now,
they have turned to one another for companionship
as many bachelors do.
Being younger and slightly smaller,
this bull assumes a lower rank
than his more established companion.
It's a dynamic that's easy to see while they feed.
As the senior notices that his companion
has a tastier looking tree,
he swiftly muscles in.
The junior moves off with no complaint.
Size is power between elephants
and the smaller bull wouldn't risk a challenge.
There's plenty for both of them
in the acacia trees of this patch of woodland.
Etosha's woody trees are a larder for its giants.
After a long day searching for food
many of the park's residents return to Etosha's waterholes.
They offer an opportunity to antelope
that is unusual in the African wilderness;
time to drink without fear of attack from below.
The small, isolated waterholes can't support crocodiles.
In Africa's wetter places
antelope stick to the banks
to avoid jaws lurking beneath the surface.
But here, these Springbok
can wade into the cooling water without concern.
Before long,
even the toughest of Etosha's inhabitants arrive.
Gemsbok waste no time in getting wet.
And for a moment
they're liberated from the heat's oppressive grip.
Their routine of regular grazing and covering ground
will soon resume,
but for now they can relax
in the company of the waterhole's many other visitors.
A giant soon joins the throng,
and he's given all the space he needs.
At more than eleven feet tall,
he's less satisfied by the water's depth.
Luckily he's well equipped to splash himself.
As the afternoon draws on, many more come and go.
The thirsty giraffe bull finally arrives
after his long quest for water.
And he's not alone.
He's found the company of a small herd.
Giraffe regularly come and go from herds,
and he may spend weeks with his companions
before going his own way again.
Giraffe are especially vulnerable while drinking,
and it helps to have extra eyes on the lookout.
As quickly as the herds arrive,
they leave again.
Dispersing back into Etosha's expanse
in their constant search for food.
The big elephant bull is in no rush.
He finishes his mud bath.
Cool at last,
he too heads off on the next leg of his perpetual to and fro
between food and water.
Etosha National Park presents a natural enigma.
This foreboding expanse supports a surprising abundance of life.
While their environment is harsh,
those that persevere can find enough to get by.
All must move according to their own rhythm;
To satisfy their hunger
and quench their thirst.
This is the constant ebb and flow of Etosha -
the Great White Place.
♪♪