National Geographic: Wild Passions Page #3

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It looks like something's

about to happen.

Less than 15 seconds from

beginning to end,

and the cheetah never went out of frame

Okay, stop here. Go quick.

Now, Anton moves in for the close-up.

It puts him right on top of the kill.

Turn, turn, turn, turn, turn, turn,

stop like this.

Of course, I've seen it

more than once by now.

But I still can hardly bear to watch.

It's terrible.

But sentimentality

in nature doesn't exist.

Things couldn't be going better

for the seasoned veteran.

As for Matt...

Oh, we missed it.

Go one... to the left, yeah.

Right, right, right, right,

go around these...

Keep on this side...

Go right, Pete, go right, go right.

And now to the left.

Go, go, quick. Yes, of course.

Okay, stop like this. Stop like this.

There we are. Missed it again.

Fantastic.

We missed what happened here

just by a couple of minutes.

Matt would be happy just to

get close to his animals.

It's clearly no problem for Anton.

I'm happy that there's glass.

And while the cheetah are climbing

all over Anton's car,

Matt's is breaking down.

The link just snapped blow

a gasket here relentless problems

But good wildlife filmmakers

are persistent.

Once again, Matt waits at the den,

hoping to catch the pups emerging

to greet their mother.

Finally, the right place

at the right time.

A crucial scene for Matt

a testimony to the gentle side

of the jackal.

Capturing key moments is a challenge

for all wildlife filmmakers.

How do you get great scenes like these?

What does it take to be

a good wildlife filmmaker?

The first thing you need is patience

that verges upon stupidity,

because you're down there,

and typically you're cold

and uncomfortable,

and you have to be sort of mentally

marginal to stay there

for hours on end.

To me, the challenge is

the most important thing.

If somebody says to me, you know,

"Here's a species that's never been

filmed before,

and you probably can't do it."

That would like feed the fire

within me to actually accomplish it.

Good wildlife filmmakers

are primarily naturalists.

And their interest in

wildlife filmmaking stems

from their interest in animals.

If you understand the animal behavior,

you have a better chance

of being able to film it,

as opposed to understanding

the camera technique

and trying to film some animals?

Never going to work.

Derek and Beverly Joubert have spent

a lifetime in close contact

with the animals they film.

And they've learned every trick

of the trade.

We almost try and become part of them

so that we know exactly

what they're doing

and what they wouldn't want us to do.

For the Jouberts,

wildlife filmmaking isn't a job;

it's a way of life.

Over here we've got a handy item.

It's an elephant's pelvis and

it's great for having our wash basin.

And then, of course, our famous toilet

You don't sit there for long

because the teeth are still

in the elephant's jawbone.

Life in the bush is basic.

But the Jouberts' reward

is an unusual intimacy with wildlife.

When we're sitting somewhere

and an elephant comes to us,

we will just sit and

soak up the atmosphere

and almost communicate with him.

That is something that you

would not get in many places.

Such moments are unforgettable

like Howard Hall's

extraordinary encounter

with a Patagonian right whale.

It was a remarkable experience,

because after we'd been

with the animals a few days,

one of them actually became curious

and wanted to play with us.

And it was amazing.

We found that the whale

would come right down to me,

come right down,

and sit on the bottom next to me

and lean over toward me so that

I would scratch his eyebrow.

And he loved for us to scratch him.

And we're talking a huge animal,

we're talking this gigantic behemoth

of an animal, coming down,

settling only a few feet away with

his eyeball only 18 inches from you,

and then you just reach out

and scratch his eye,

and you watch him looking

at you while you do that.

Now you may think, you know,

you look into the eye of a whale,

you're not going to see

any characterization or emotion there.

But you can.

There are filmmakers who are drawn

to a particular animal.

We've found bats to be

particularly fascinating subjects.

For me, birds of prey.

Water hogs, they're amazing things and

as I've said,

such humorous little guys.

In some cases,

you'd have to call it an obsession.

Okay, hold it,

just hold it a second there, yeah.

That's my favorite bear there

Polar bears are Tom Mangelsen's passion

Beautiful bear, that guy.

You can't help but get attached

to them, you know,

you just watch them,

and you know certain individuals,

that I let myself kind

of get involved in that.

I'm always happy to see, you know,

a bear that I recognize.

Tom Mangelsen is an award winning

photographer and filmmaker.

He's come here to Cape Churchill

in northern Canada every year

for the past ten years.

With his assistant, Cara,

and an old friend, Spence,

Tom traverses the frozen landscape

in his tundra buggy,

searching for yet another great shot

of the bears.

I think they're just beautiful

to begin with, you know,

they're designed for this landscape.

They're powerful, they're strong,

they're able to live solitary,

predatory existences.

Extraordinary beings, you know,

nice to watch.

But getting so attached

to your subjects can take its toll.

Tom followed a female he called

"Pretty Bear" for six or seven years.

He was thrilled to discover

two cubs trailing behind her last year

So it was difficult for him to watch

when one of the cubs sickened

and later died.

It's hard not to be emotional

when you see something that's just,

that is kind of horrific

as a cub dying in a snowstorm,

and a mother trying to protect it

from all comers,

staying there with it,

even though the thing's,

poor thing's been dead for two days.

Tom's emotional connection

to the bears

leads us to see them

in a different light.

The pictures I probably enjoy most are

the ones that are hopefully

more esthetic

and soft and more painterly, maybe.

That's probably most people's

favorite overall,

the one called

the "Bad Boys of the Arctic."

It looks very human, you know,

the guy's kicked back looking like he's

you know, ready to turn on the TV

or watching the football game

or having a beer.

I named that image "Polar Dance"

because it looked like

they were dancing.

It looked like a classical dance

that people would do.

Actually, it's two large adult

male polar bears play fighting.

You guys, this could be so cool.

Alright.

That's nice to see.

In the distance, a mother

and two cubs saunter into view.

You've got to be impressed by an animal

that can raise two eight-month-olds

in this landscape.

I mean, look at that,

that's harsh out there.

Those little guys have been probably

walking for 20 miles, maybe.

She keeps looking back,

checking on that one that's kind

of lagging behind a little bit.

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