Part 2 – “Little Heroes, Big Hunters” – on February 27th at 8:15 p.m. on ORF 2
Vienna (OTS) – From the Zambezi to the Kalahari – Namibia’s river landscapes and dry savannahs provide the stage for brilliant performances for a variety of wild animals. Staged by nature’s ingenuity, pachyderms show emotions, antelopes show grace and mongooses show their talent for comedy. Big cats impress with their acrobatic flying moves and colorful birds with their collective tunnel building… Under the scorching South African sun, the little heroes and big hunters make the most of their opportunities. Part two of the new “Universum” two-part series about “Namibia’s natural wonders” by Jens Westphalen and Thoralf Grospitz (ORF editing: Wolfgang Stickler) is a rousing potpourri that will be broadcast on Tuesday, February 27, 2024, at 8:15 p.m. on ORF 2 Drama, charm and cohesion combine to create a lasting impression on the audience.
If there were a world ranking of the cutest animals – the meerkats of the Kalahari would be among the top favorites. In real life, they score with a sense of family and vigilance. Their foresighted posts protect the matriarchally organized clans from attackers and give them carefree days filled with digging up beetles and scorpions, cuddling and socializing. The steppe pangolin is less popular – especially among ants and termites. It looks like a walking pine cone with a long pink earthworm for a tongue. But beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and horn armor is functional in any case.
The shy dik-diks, on the other hand, represent cuteness. The rabbit-sized dwarf antelopes mark the territory in which they enter into a monogamous pair relationship with the dark “tears” of their beguilingly beautiful eyes. Hippos, on the other hand, are more barrel-shaped. With a stress-free lifestyle, the herbivores weigh around one thousand kilograms and rely on weight loss in the water. They present themselves as patient parents who allow their kids to have exuberant bathing fun.
The Scarlet Spinte organize a colorful mass spectacle. The migratory birds come to the Zambezi in tens of thousands and puncture its sandy banks with breeding holes up to two meters long. Their gathering attracts predators such as the yellow-billed kite and the marsh harrier. The hunters only manage to carry out a successful flight attack after several energy-consuming failed attempts. This is how nature always ensures a balanced balance. Other loners have a similar experience: wild cats and caracals are also after birds and perform breathtaking jumps of three meters from a standing position to catch pigeons or nimble sparrows. Although they always land on their paws, as cats do, slow-motion footage shows the enormous skill with which the soloists have to maintain their place at the top of the food chain. Cape buffaloes are also more than equal opponents for lions.
African elephants’ size gets them into trouble. You have to drink around a bathtub full of liquid every day to make ends meet. A challenge in times of increasing droughts and dwindling water holes. Their Atout is the knowledge of the leaders who, on long hikes – with a map in their heads, so to speak – head for places with the life-giving water. Occasionally there are meetings between several hundred animals who still recognize each other even years later. Pachyderm society is characterized by an astonishingly high level of social competence. Mutual support is mandatory, and it can be assumed that they are capable of empathy in a similar way to humans.
It seems that there are many “crowns of creation” – at least this is what the fascinating behavior of the animals that the cameramen were able to capture for this documentary suggests. The “little heroes and great hunters” also give an idea of the “wisdom” inherent in nature, which, in the form of self-organizing systems, assigns to each individual a very special role for which they are perfectly equipped.
The program and other editions of the nature film series “Universum” are available on ORF ON and in the TVthek app.