National Geographic: Flight Over Africa Page #3

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wounded by poachers.

In the vast 5000

square mile park,

the only way to locate

individual animals

is from the air.

Even then,

it's no easy matter.

We're starting to

get a signal.

Okay

Once we get

a little bit closer,

we can listen

out of both wings...

and we wanna balance

the volume that comes

in on the two wings

and that'll keep us

going right towards it... Okey

Geez, it's hard to see

through this bush, isn't it?

Okay, straight... Real close

real close

directly under us.

Nothing under

us on the left.

It's quite possible that

her collar has come off.

It's come off several

of the other animals.

So what we'll need to

do is just come in on foot

and find the collar

or find the animal. But,

you know,

now we know the area.

With the help

of expert trackers,

the search for Zola

continues on foot.

Dr. Michael Kock

is the veterinarian

for Zimbabwe's national park.

Once they find

the rhino,

Dr. Kock will shoot her

with a tranquilizer dart

so he can treat

her gunshot wounds.

I need...

The hole is swollen here.

That's from a

gunshot there?

What I need is,

I need an eye cover

My shirt?

She looks good.

You can see she's done

some wearing here around the edges.

If Zola had died,

the poachers would

probably have cut off

what was left of her

horn to sell. Still,

dehorning does appear

to reduce poaching overall.

It's easy to want to take

an emotional stance

to conserving these animals.

And if you take that stance,

dehorning is hard to justify.

But I think we have

to be realistic,

and we have to look

at what's happening.

And, I mean, I'd be

really sad to tell my

children or my

grandchildren that,

sorry,

there used to be something

as magnificent as

a dinosaur,

but we killed them all

Strafed with machine

gun fire

the huge creature's legs

are swollen with infection.

Once her wounds

are treated

Zola will be given an antidote

to the tranquilizer and freed.

May 27th.

The immense animal awakes

and rises to her feet

but does not move.

Then, slowly she lowers

her massive head

to the ground and uses

her chin as a crutch

to limp off into

the bush.

The doctor sounds optimistic

but I am not.

She might survive

these wounds

but to a poacher,

her life is worth far less

than the sad stump at

he end of her nose.

Four days later,

Claytor receives a wire

from Janet Rachlow.

Despite all their efforts

Zola has died.

Back on his way,

Claytor returns to the

explorer's life.

He has decided to pay a visit

to an orphanage

for chimpanzees in Burundi.

Claytor heads north

toward Burundi.

But first he'll

cross Zambia,

and an area called

the Kafue Flats.

I'm now somewhere

over the Kafue swamps,

and as far as you can

see in every direction,

it's absolutely flat.

And it's this green patina

over dark blue water.

If you didn't see the

sun reflecting, you know

that it's just a green patina

of growth on top of

this vast swamp.

I think if you lost

your engine here

I'm not sure

how deep it is

but you'd probably just

mush into this green gunk

and just sit on top of the

wing and then try

to call someone.

You just can't crash here.

If he did crash here,

Claytor's tiny plane would be

almost impossible

to spot from the air.

The orange stripes on the tail

and wings are a safety measure.

If he goes down, the right

color might make it

easier to find him

in the empty terrain he frequents

Claytor hopes

he'll never have to

find out if it works.

And crashing isn't the

only thing a pilot

has to worry about.

I've had a couple

of close calls.

When I got to Algeria,

it was right after the

military took over.

And they thought that

a bush pilot

was a pilot for George Bush.

And right after

the gulf war,

George Bush was not a

very popular person.

I tried to quickly explain

that a bush pilot

had nothing at all

to do with George Bush.

Claytor decides to make

a brief stop in Zambia

to refuel and chart his course to Burundi.

Bueno Bungee.

How's everything here?

I am from Ndola,

but I needed to refuel.

Hello.

How are you?

Nice to meet you.

I'm Claytor...

We are just from

around here.

The lanky American is

an unusual sight

wherever he lands

and his grasp of African

languages is often

a crowd pleaser.

This is my first time

ever to come here.

It's nice to meet you.

Oh, it's very nice

to meet you.

When landing,

you're suppose to pay

something - a landing fee.

I can pay it.

How much should

I pay you?

I want to pay...

How much?

How many kilograms?

It's one ton.

U.S. dollars is that?

It's about

one U.S. dollar.

I understand that

Can I pay you

two U.S. dollars?

So is that okay?

This is more than okay.

Okay

no but please

the change is for you guys

You can have it.

Because landing

fees here are very reasonable...

so it's one cent.

These are for you to do

as you wish to improve your airport.

I think that's the

cheapest airport

I've ever landed

at in my whole life.

When you fly in the day

it's very bumpy,

because the sun heats

the surface

of the African earth

and it just gets these currents

of air straight up.

At night,

it's completely different.

The air is calm and still.

You can see the stars.

You can see fires

on the ground.

You can see the moonlight

reflecting off of lakes.

And it's very calm and

peaceful and kind of reflective time.

You're suspended in space

over this large black think

that you can't see.

It's mysterious.

The chimpanzee orphanage

in northern Burundi

was founded by the

Jane Goodall Institute in 1989.

Chimps confiscated

from smugglers

are brought here

to be cared for by

conservationists and volunteers.

Dean Anderson

is the director of the refuge.

At the moment,

it is home to 17 chimpanzees,

and one baby gorilla.

How old is she?

She's about three

She was confiscated

at the airport.

She was taken from her forest

home as all the other chimps here...

In Zaire... eastern Zaire,

because she's

an eastern lowland gorilla,

by poachers

and then she was brought to...;

she was in transport...

now what they were

going to do with her there

I don't know.

Probably a zoo or...

Is that where they were

mostly going to zoos at one point?

Zoos probably.

A gorilla would

probably go to a zoo.

'Cuz a private

person would just...

No...

Not be so

interested, right,

because they get

too big and too violent?

Yes, well too big.

I mean, how do you keep

a 300-pound gorilla

or something.

June 4th.

There are baby

chimpanzees everywhere.

They are affectionate

and smart.

Each one has

a distinct personality.

One has mastered the

art of threading a shoelace.

If they were returned

to the forest,

they would be killed

by wild chimps.

They can never go home.

My mind drifts

back to a day

I spent in Equatorial Guinea

and that little chimp I found.

We just had something to eat

at a restaurant and I came out.

And sitting here tied to

this chair is this

little baby chimpanzee.

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