Africa: The Serengeti Page #2

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been domesticated.

The black rhinoceros, for all its

formidable presence ...

and frequent marking of territory

is a vulnerable giant,

poached almost to extinction

for the value of its horn.

Ngorongoro crater is one of the

few protected refuges ...

where the black rhino endures.

For a baboon troop

much of the day passes ...

attending to young, grooming ...

and socializing.

Though the job of protecting ...

the lion pride and its territory

belongs to the males,

the work of hunting and raising

young falls to the females.

Play helps prepare the young for

the violent encounters to come.

The vaunted power of lions is matched

by a prodigious capacity for rest.

Typically 20 hours a day is

spent in regal slumber.

When lions mate, however,

they do so on average ...

every 25 minutes,

day and night ...

without feeding ...

for three or four days.

It has been estimated that

for every cub that

survives its first year.

These lands are also

the cradle of humanity.

Gashed into the

eastern Serengeti ...

Plains near Ngorongoro is

Olduvai-gorge, one of the most ...

famous archaeological sites of earth.

It bears within

its layered walls ...

a human fossil record spanning ...

almost two million years.

Today, the proud Maasai

people dwell here.

They too, follow

a nomadic existence ...

along the edges of the Serengeti.

Ever seeking good grazing ...

for their cattle herds.

The Maasai believe

that heaven gave them,

and no other people,

all the cattle on earth.

And from their treasured cattle,

they still draw a staple ...

of the Maasai warrior diet:

A mixture of milk and blood.

The age of predators still

encompasses the world of the Maasai.

From this and nearby villages,

leopards have taken three infants

within the year.

Once the most

formidable warriors ...

in east Africa,

the Maasai still

defend their cattle ...

and families with spears.

Some are born on the Serengeti,

some seek it out.

Today a growing human migration ...

from the outside world

can witness ...

a spectacle of wildness ...

long vanished elsewhere.

Tanzania and Kenya

have preserved ...

vast areas as national parks ...

and game reserves,

proclaiming them ...

a world heritage of all mankind.

The support from tourism ...

is now indispensable

to the survival ...

of this heritage, linking the ...

destiny of the Serengeti ...

with the visitors who pass in awe.

The Serengeti they behold

is changing,

threatened by population

growth and poaching,

but vigorously protected as well.

Elephant herds that once fled ...

poachers are returning,

now protected by an ivory moratorium.

Nourished again by the Serengeti,

and encouraged by greater safety,

The herds are multiplying rapidly.

On the Maasai Mara,

the storms of October approach.

And with the return of the rains,

the herds will resume ...

the great migration ...

toward their ancestral calving ...

grounds in the south.

But ahead they face

their greatest peril.

To reach the south,

the herd must cross

the Mara river ...

now swollen by the rains.

In these waters,

it is still the age of dinosaurs,

and a crocodile reigns supreme.

Many that survive the crocodiles,

fall prey to the river itself.

Some drown. Some are trampled.

some are too exhausted ...

to save themselves.

Through the year

and the course ...

of the great migration,

a quarter of a

million wildebeests ...

will have died.

But the migration moves on ...

through the long journey south,

returning finally

to the short grass plains ...

where the miracle

of the Serengeti unfolds.

The mass breeding

earlier in the year ...

culminates in mass birth.

In the brief span of a few weeks,

early in the wet season,

almost half a

million wildebeest ...

calves are born,

a strategy that

overwhelms predators ...

and ensures the survival ...

of a new generation.

To survive in the

midst of predators,

newborn calves must be able to ...

stand within minutes of birth.

Those unable to stand,

must be abandoned.

Once more on the plains ...

of the Serengeti,

life is more powerful than death.

And there remains

a place on Earth ...

where it is still

the morning of life ...

and the great herds still run free.

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