"Ok, there's the mother." "Now look at this might pull the skin to the side there." "Yeah." "This is a loft of." "Right, shall we look for a place to land?" "Today in Africa, a bitter war is being fought." "Both man and beast are dying... and the enemies are greed, corruption, and ignorance." "The battle is being waged over the black rhino, sought by poachers for its valuable horn" "In the past 15 years, over 95%% of the animals have been slaughtered." "Each day, Ranger Dolf Sasseen patrols the Zambezi Valley," "But for this mother and calf, he was too late." "A lot of people would say," ""What does the rhino do to the bush?"" "As a bushman you could turn around and say," ""The rhino has been created by God as part of creation, we need it"." "To look at it, it's a beautiful animal and we can live side by side." "You do not want to show to your children one day," "How an elephant or a rhino look in a storybook." "That's not what life is all about." "Life is not a storybook It is a reality." "For 45 million years, one of the planet's most primitive mammals wandered the plains and forests of the world with little to fear." "The rhino has few natural enemies, but that role has now been filled by man." "More than 36 species of rhinocerous once existed." "Today, there are only five, all endangered." "In Asia, the Javan, Sumatran, and Indian rhinos are down to critical levels." "In Africa, the white rhino is somewhat more stable." "Closely confined in a few well guarded South African reserves" "But the black rhino is hurting towards extinction." "If, as we say, in the early 76s, there were,5,666 rhino on the continent," "We are down to 4,566 now." "That's an indictment upon somebody or a group of people or nations." "It's come down throughout" "Africa, this disease, this cancerous situation, plundering our wildlife of Africa." "Through the years, the black rhino had already been depleted through much of its range." "It is the recent wave of slaughter, though, which has devastated the animal." "Starting in the early 76s, poachers swept through East Africa, all but wiping out the populations of Kenya," "Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, and Mozambique." "Now, they have begun to threaten Zimbabwe." "In 1977,the situation took an even more severe turn for the worse in Kenya's Meru National Park." "In one three month period, the toll on the rhinos reached 53 and rangers began to be attacked and killed by armed Somali poachers." "Peter Jenkins was the park's warden during that time." "When I went to the Meru park we had a population of black rhino between 266 and 256, and then in the late 76s we were hit by a different type of poacher, this was the shifta poacher with his automatic." "And when I left Meru '81, the population was down to about 25." "Today, it's three." "The beginning of the rhino's decline can be traced back to the mid-nineteenth century." "Modern guns were introduced into Africa," "And killing became easy, efficient, and popular." "Some Europeans developed a taste for rhino meat... others hunted for the sheer sport of it." "When a rhino charges a man that's nothing." "But when a man charges a rhino, that's new." "So here you see the tables reversed." "We are now in a with rhinos." "Osa dislikes rhinos more than any animal on earth." "For years they have been chasing her and here was a chance to give them a taste of their won medicine." "Mr. Rhino is public enemy number one in Africa." "He's afraid of nothing." "If your first shot doesn't stop him, good night." "It is not hunting, however, that poses the great threat to the rhinocerous." "Instead, it is the demand for the horn" "Ironically, the very feature of the animal that evolved for its defense may bring about its extinction" "Though hard and strong like bone, the horn is made of keratin, like the human fingernal." "It grows throughout the rhinos life at a rate of about three inches a year." "On a full grown adult, it may reach over four feet." "For thousands of years, rhino horn powder has been a treasured commodity in the far east." "Ancient oriental tradition views it as an effective fever reducer and an indispensable cure all." "The use of rhino horn as an aphrodisiac has been greatly exaggerated, and is found only in parts of western India." "As early as the sixteenth century, rhino horn powder was recommended in a classic encyclopedia of Chinese medicine, tidely consulted today." "The best horn is from a freshly killed male." "Black is better than white." "The tip has the most virtue." "Pregnant women should not take the powder or they will miscarry." "Modern medicine considers the claims highly unlikely, and almost all far eastern countries have officially banned the importation of rhino horn." "Still, the local market flourishes." "In the back street of Taipei," "Bangkok, and other Asian cities," "African rhino horn retails for up to $7,666 per pound." "For the past decade the export of rhino horn has been banned in most African countries, but smuggling continues, to the dismay of conservationists." "Back in the 1976s when there was very little effort to control the trade, the outlets were very diffuse indeed-going out on aircraft or boats and perhaps over land as well." "But nowadays, I think that the routes have become rather more confined and most countries seem to point a finger at Burundi as the major exit point in Africa for rhino horn." "So I believe a very large proportion must be going out from this one country." "But we also know from countries like Zimbabwe and Tanzania that a certain amount of rhino horn has gone out in diplomatic pouches." "It's almost certainly an international illegal network, if you like, involving corrupt government officials, corrupt businessmen, and corrupt politicians, and it's this sort of triangular Mafia-like alliance which has made it so powerful." "It's not only affected rhinos, it's also affected elephants and ivory-the two are very closely linked." "Throughout history, the port of Mombasa, many kinds of illegal trade." "Rhino horn, leopard skins, gold, ivory each dealer has his specialty." "This pile of ivory, taken from 566 elephants, was hidden in falsely labeled spice crates." "It was seized by Kenyan customs officials while awaiting shipment to the Middle East." "The route is an old one, for thousands of year," "Arab dhows have sailed these waters, sometimes with valuable contraband aboard." "In this way, the horn of countless slaughtered rhino have made their way across the sea." "In recent years, the horn has often ended its journey in North Yemen." "It is here that one more damaging twist to the black rhino story has been added." "The oil boom of the early 76s created lucrative work for migrant Yemeni laborers in Saudi Arabia and other Gulf states." "For the first time, the workers had ready cash to spend on luxuries, including the ultimate symbol of vilirity, the rhino horned dagger, or iambia." "The discovery of the new threat to the rhino was made by Kenyan-based geographer Esmond Bradley Martin." "I first came to North Yemem in 1978 when" "I was doing a general sort of survey of the country and discovered at that time that perhaps 56%% of all the rhino horn in the world was coming up here so Sanaa for the making of dagger handles." "The rhino horn handle, once reserved for the aristocracy, is treasured far above alternatives like cow or water buffalo." "A fine antique may sell for $15,666." "When polished, the horn takes on an amber opalescence greatly admired for its subtle beauty." "Esmond Bradley Martin began an international camaping to stop the rhino horn trade, encouraging the use of substitutes." "After some 16 years, his work is showing signs of success°" "International trade has slowed in many eastern countries, and since 1985, the North Yemeni government has been enforcing a ban on importation." "But it's not early enough." "Where there is profit, men will trade." "The middleman, by transporting the horn from the smuggler to the dealer, keeps business going briskly." "I will buy for about $766 per kilo, and sell for about $1466 per kilogram, so I make a profit of about $766." "The diplomats who smuggle rhino horn come mostly from" "Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, South Korea." "I saw rhino in Nairobi." "I like it." "I like rhino." "Despite the rhino's size and fierce reputation, it is sadly easy to track, find, and kill." "Its thick hide offers no protection against bullets and its behavior patterns are too predictable to elude the determined poacher." "In its simple daily routine, the black rhino uses its prehensile lip to tear off the leaves of the prickly acacia bushes and other scrubby plants." "A solitary creature, it lives on a home range of from one to twelve square miles." "The rhino's territory may overlap with another of its species, but it is persistent in marking its range." "The animals spray urine or track their dung across the area, and so, spread their scent" "Contrary to appearances, the rhino-cerous is a peaceful being, and only rarely takes exception to the occasional trespasser." "Although it can hear and smell acutely its eyesight is poor." "Help comes in the form of the oxpecker which serves as a lookout." "In Swahill the oxpecker is known as"askair wakifaru", the rhino's policeman." "When alerted by its tiny bodyguard, the rhino may panic and run." "But since it is both curious and nearsighted, it may be enticed from the bush, sometimes fatally, by the human voice mimicking its call." "The first man to devote his life to the study of rhino behavior was John Goddard." "While living in Tanzania's" "Ngorongoro crater during the 19,6's, he developed a genuine affection for his lumbering, primitive subjects." "Goddard was deeply commutted to his work, regardless of the hazards." "Even a tranquilized rhino can be dangerous." "Weighing up to one and a half tons, an adult bull represents a serious threat." "Dentine joined in P2 between cusps." "Watch it!" "Alright, P3 dentine almost joined between cusps." "For seven years, Goddard carried out exhaustive field work, recording each minute feature of the rhino's appearance and behavior." "Sixteen years after Goddard's own death at the age of 35, the number of rhino in his research area had plummeted from 168 to about 26." "Many were the victims of poachers." "In the vast expanse of East Africa's Savannah, protection of the rhino has proved impossible." "Bob Oguya, warden of Kenya's Meru Park since 1983, has one plane and 36 men to patrol 356 square miles." "The problem we are facing is that these fellows with their automatics, and our people with singly action 363s it is watch them and in most cases we lost them, because with their type of firearm and with our types of" "firearms they end up escaping our dragnet." "The rangers are at serious personal risk from the armed poachers." "Their camel patrols stay out for weeks at a time, in touch only by radio with park headquarters." "Despite the men's vulnerability and outdated equipment, they are dedicated and loyal-even in the face of tragedy." "In December we lost our sergeant to the poacher's bullets." "We saw him die." "Without adequate weapons we were helpless." "Too many of our men have fallen because we could not defend ourselves." "If we had automatics instead of 363s we wouldn't be losing our people." "With the rhino population at such critical levels throughout Africa, every animal is important." "In Kenya's Masia Mara Reserve, rangers mounted round the clock protection for this mother and calf, shooting several lions who came too close." "Worried, the rangers moved the family to safer ground." "The calf was better protected, but his mother kept trying to get back to her old territory, leaving her baby open to attack." "The lions seized their chance." "After the incident, the rangers turned to Daphne Sheldrick, who raises wounded and orphaned animals" "On one of the occasions that she was away the lions got in and they caught him and actually made a real mess of him." "Fortunately, they were young lions and they weren't very experienced." "But they certainly chewed him up very, very badly and he was dumped on my doorstep more dead than alive." "I must say he's fantastically plucky little rhino." "In fact, his mother's a very placid, dozey old cow so I expect this had made him have to be slightly more alert" "The first thing we had to do, of course was get a friend, because he'd been through tremendous trauma, so we got the sheep." "They've been good friends ever since and wherever Sam goes, so the sheep follows and they play together and wander around together and he'll just grow up here until he's weaned off milk, and then we'll have to send" "him somewhere to be a wild rhino." "Little Sam was lucky." "These rangers saved his life." "Other rhinos have been less fortunate, poached by the very men paid to protect them." "The shadow of corruption has fallen across much of Africa, and Kenya has had her share of officials who have cashed in on illegal rhino horn trade." "It became so bad during the late 1976s that a major international scandal, Centering on the president's wife, erupted and as a result of that," "The Kenyan government was so severely embarrassed that it closed trade in all wildlife products, and that did have a very needed effect on the revival of certain species." "But the two species which showed no revival whatsoever were the main trophy species, elephants and rhino, and by the early 1986s, it became clear once again that major elements within the Wildlife Department ex-Game Department people," "that is Perez Olindo, who was the former director of the National Park Service, and this has created a tremendous enthusiasm throughout Kenya, and we feel that this is just in time to revive what is our most important effort, and that is a major" "plan to save the rhinos in Kenya." "The problem of human beings is everywhere." "We have found people who are colluding with criminal elements." "They have been prosecuted, they have been imprisoned." "And I'm afraid that I cannot, and I will not, compromise with or collude with people who are out to do things that will harm conservation and wildlife in this country." "We cannot compromise with sin, I'm afraid." "The sin is not always hard to understand." "Within the poverty stricken rural communities of Africa, there is a powerful incentive to poach" "A family may be lucky to earn $26 a month." "Each member of a rhino poaching gang may earn $166 or $266 per raid a year's income." "Although the big money is made by the middlemen, dealers, and corrupt officials, the pay is bountiful by local standards." "One Kenyan who has fought against poaching in a very personal way is Michael Werikhe." "Known throughout East Africa as "the rhino man", he has walked more than 1466 miles and raised over $,6,666 on his crusade to inform Africans of the threat to the black rhino." "People are very hospitable, very concerned about my welfare not only my welfare alone, but even that of my snake, which is a very, very strange thing." "Africans are very scared of snakes, and to have people showing so much concern about an animal they fear so much is a very touching thing." "Local people are just as concerned about the wildlife and about the environment just like any other people." "And I think it is very important that wildlife awareness should be taken to the people, for it's they who have the final say and they are ready to cooperate, provided that they are given the right information," "the right encouragement." "Even with the work of dedicated men like Werikhe," "Kenya's war to save the wild rhino has essentially been lost" "Now, its best hope for salvation may be the fenced sanctuary." "Although critics view them as glorified zoos, they are far easier to manage than the huge reserves." "In some cases, it is private citizens who have taken up the cause." "Solio Ranch, in the foothills of Mount Kenya, is owned by Courtland and Claude Parfet" "In 1976, using their own funds they encircled 15,666 acres with a high cost, specially designed fence, creating a haven for Africa's embattled wildlife." "Over a ten year period, they introduced 23 black rhino and 1, whites." "Protected, the animals thrived" "In less than 26 years, the number of black rhino had quadrupled." "Now Solio had a most unusual problem overpopulation." "The Parfets gave 15 of the black rhino the Kenyan government's first enclosed sanctuary, at Nakuru National Park." "Transporting the animals to their new new home is a huge undertaking." "The selected rhino are located from the air." "Okay, dart is in." "Keep it in sight." "It's running south." "A vet walks to within 46 feet of the unsuspecting animal before using his tranquilizer gun." "A new, fast acting drug brings the rhinocerous down in minutes, but great care must be taken to prevent it from injuring itself." "A second injection of antibiotics prevents infections in the dart gun wound." "Though unceremonious, this rhino's awakening is the next step in his relocation." "The animals are kept in holding pens for about two weeks to overcome the stress of capture." "Soon, though, this young bull will be in stalled among the tourists and flamingos of Nakuru." "It has been a long and difficult jiourney for him, but it is here that he can do the most to help save his species." "Although the rhino may be well protected in fenced sanctuaries, the situation creates another problem-inbreeding." "Wildlife biologist Rob Brett lives and works in Kenya on a remote private reserve." "He is closely observing the animals in an effort to find a solution." "Although rhino have been known about, wondered at, admired, hated for such a long period, We know virtually nothing about their breeding." "Such basic things as what turns a rhino on, what makes them breed at optimum rates" "It's crucial that we find out as much about this sort of behavior of rhino in order to conserve them under the new conditions that exist." "Their favorite habitat is bush, they are generally nocturnal, they spend most of the day asleep." "And, to observe the nitty gritty of rhino sexual behavior takes first of all a lot of patience, and a great deal of interest." "It's really ploying the minimum of equipment a mixture between very low tech, lf you like, work, and very high tech." "I am out at dawn every morning" "looking for individual rhino from which to take data." "So well does Brett know this subjects that he can identify every rhino on the reserve from the lines and wrinkles of its footprint" "He takes urine samples left from each animal to determine their hormonal levels, identifying the pregnant females and dominant males." "While the black rhino is extremely secretive about its mating habits, the white rhino, like these on Solio Ranch, are less inhibited." "This dominant male has asserted his influence..." "And now begins his courtship, which may last for many days." "He approaches the female and rests his head on her rump." "His interest may not be initially returned." "But his persistence eventually pays off and mating occurs, sometimes lasting over an hour" "Although rhinos are not monogamous, the female usually mates with the dominant male in the area." "Afterwards, the pair go their separate ways." "If impregnated, the female will not give birth for approximately 1, to 18 months, delivering only one calf at a time." "A newborn rhino, which weighs up to 126 pounds, will stay close to its mother until she has a new calf for some two to four years." "The rhinocerous, slow to reproduce and quick to die, faces an uphill struggle." "In the wild, there are so few left that some never find a suitable mate." "In Kenya and elsewhere, the fight becomes increasingly grim and ever more complex." "It can be argued that the numbers of rhino are very low, but I think it would be negligence on behalf of the world to just turn their backs on this country now and say," ""All is lost." "There are only 466 rhino left, they're not worth saving."" "We have had long years of experience with poaching, which is what Zimbabwe's having now armed poachers." "Zimbabwe's getting it for the first time." "I wonder whether they're actually gong to be able to save their rhino by just having armed patrols and shootouts." "I know in Kenya that they're fighting armed gangs there, and there are contacts taking place." "But we have, right from the onset, taken on this task as a war and not a conservation exercise purely and simply." "The situation bears a more than passing resemblance to full fledged guerrilla combat..." "It is a deadly serious mission" "Glenn Tatham commands Operation Stronghold from a camp on the Zambezi River in Zimbabwe, where he protects the last large wild rhino population left in the world." "The project involved moving 256 rhino, one third of the valley's population, to safer ground." "The fight to protect the rest is a desperate one." "Rangers live year round in camp with their families." "who realize that some of the men may die in armed conflict." "What we're doing here is to fight the poachers." "Every day that a group of poachers are in here, they are potentially able to kill two or three or maybe even four rhino." "One group killed six rhino one morning here, here in the Zambezi Valley." "To our north is Zambia, and these poachers are crossing from there to here." "The river is the international boundary but there is no barrier as such." "There's two border posts on that section of the river." "We cannot cover 156 miles of river frontage every day of the year, lt's an impossibility." "You'd need more than a division of men to do that." "Even then because of the bush warfare we'd be fighting, it's an impossibility." "As in Kenya, the odds are staggering, and the danger is real." "Operation Stronghold has just Many of the rangers are veterans from opposite sides" "of Zimbabwe's war of independence, now fighting together against a common enemy." "Facing heavily armed Zambian-based poachers, the rangers shoot to kill with the government's consent." "Since 1985, more than 36 poachers have been shot dead, and at least 26 taken prisoner" "In the same period, some 336 rhino have died." "Until the network of dealers and middlemen is broken," "Zimbabwe's rangers know they can do little more than stem the tide." "Privately, many wonder how long it can go on." "We've got people here who've been in the bush for two years, they go out for 26 days in a month, they occasionally have success, But it's very very... demanding on them physically, It's demanding on" "their families, its demanding of their well-being." "They are buoyed up with enthusiasm every time you have a successful contact, and perhaps this is a good enough reason to have a contact, is to boost enthusiasm, If no other reason." "You have captured, you have recovered one and what direction is the other poacher running to?" "No problem, as soon as the chopper arrives we will get into your..." "I guess the big thing is now, is to get all the others, if he's gonna be on the ground for too long I'll have to go fly over and pick him up..." "One down, one running." "Okay, can't we get them in and start leap-frogging them?" "The support units are on their way now and..." "461 is sending down..." "And the one, as I said, had been shot in the groin, was in fact bleeding." "I don't know how, in fact, he got as far as he had." "He scrabbled about 15 paces on his stomach and died there." "It all happened so very quickly." "One tends just to pick up little images of what was happening rather than as an overall thing." "You get images of rounds from the people behind you, the expended cartridge cases landing on your head." "The gang had killed four rhino in as many days." "Each poacher had risked his life for a few hundred dollars." "The rangers know that Zimbabwe is the last stand for the wild black rhino." "Still, the dilemma they face is a terrible one." "One often wonders about the human life for a rhino life," "And at this stage it's a human life for about 26 rhino lives." "The morality is perhaps secondary to the fact that there doesn't seem to be any other way in which we can in fact stop these blokes from getting away and getting back." "A group of poachers would come into the country, they'll start killing rhinos." "We've got to react to that, and one must never forget the central objective of this whole exercise, this whole operation, is save the rhino" "We are not manhunters, we're not mercenaries." "We are here as conservationists." "But desperate situations require desperate measures." "No, there's no joy in killing people, but it's a job, and quite obviously, we're just pawns on either side for men who are just exploiting people" "to make themselves rich." "Forty five million years of nature, unraveled by man in an evolutionary microsecond" "Still, the rhinocerous can still be saved." "If a major international effort were mounted to stop the poachers, the rhino would almost certainly bounce back." "But until the incentive to kill is removed the profit for the poachers, middlemen and dealers the battle will go on." "If the fight is lost, the rhino will be doomed to exist only as a drawing in a child's picture book of things that once were and are no more." "Less than 566 miles from the North Pole lies Canada's most distant frontier" "Ellesmere island." "It takes a special kind of animal to survive here." "This is one the arctic wolf." "These hunters of the high Arctic have little fear of man." "They roam this frozen wilderness beyond reach of the superstition, hatred and mistrust we have heaped upon their kind." "Now, these wolves and men have met and the encounter has revealed some of the truth about these animals' lives." "Unlike wolves in other parts of the world, these creatures live so far away from towns and cities that they have never been hunted or persecuted." "Ellesmere is an island surrounded by pack ice most of the year, a harsh land about the size of Nebraska." "Only someone with a passion for wolves would dream of tracking them into this desolate land." "One such person is photographer Jim Brandenburg." "He has been here before, on assignment for NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC magazine." "Now the wolves have lured him back." "Wolves have always been a favorite animal of mine." "And I suppose one of the reasons they're my favorite animals is because they're so intelligent that intelligence makes it nearly impossible to film them in a more conventional place, say in the forested areas." "And for some reason these Arctic wolves have got a quality about them where they tolerated us very well, and it became clear that it would make a wonderful story." "The spring sunlight illuminates a world released from the long months of high Arctic winter." "The polar bears patrol once again, but they are little threat to the wolves here, since they rarely move far from the sea." "The wolves are more likely to chase them, according to Dave Mech, a wolf biologist with 36 year's experience." "He came here with Jim Brandenburg to observe the pack and its den." "It was a dream come true for me to finally get to Ellesmere Island." "I had known about the wolves there for about 26 years." "But I never thought I'd ever have a chance to work with them." "Everywhere else in the world wolves have been so persecuted that they're extremely afraid of humans." "And once can't get close enough to them to watch them." "The area is so remote they're basically unafraid of humans." "For the first time, Mech can watch from close up as a wolf pays homage to its pack leaders, known as the Alpha Male and the Alpha Female." "The hierarchy of the group who dominates whom is reflected in body language and actions." "By observing and analyzing the wolves behavior, scientists like Mech and understand the social structure of the family unit." "To learn what I wanted I knew I had to find the den," "The shelter where the wolves have their pups for a couple of months of the year in the summer." "There's only one such den in about 1,666 square miles, so it took a long time to find it." "Actually, I spent a solid week searching for it and was elated when I finally was able to locate it." "There's very few such suitable dens around in this region because of the pervasive permafrost which prevents the wolves from digging." "Having found the den, it was really clear to me why the wolves had chosen the sight." "It was a beautiful rock cave at the end of a long ridge overlooking a wide valley with a stream flowing down the middle." "And the wolves could look out in every direction for many miles." "What Dave and Jim are about to observe and film in the short" "Arctic summer would give them a unique experience." "They knew they had the possibility of living in the midst of this wild pack, almost becoming part of it." "They found themselves amazingly close to "Mon", as they called her, as she took her pups out, probably fro the first time." "These were not the mindless killers of fiction and fable." "Finally, the men could begin to record the real story of these animals." "Film making is an involved process lots of equipment, lots of boxes of lenses and cameras." "In a remote location like this, especially, we need backup equipment." "So we need extra beyond the normal." "The wolves had picked the perfect den and we did try to find the perfect campsite." "We wanted to be close enough to the wolf den to keep an eye on it, yet not too close to put pressure on the pack and the daily activity of rearing the pups." "Again, one of the reasons I respect wolves so much is you can't fool them." "As a wildlife photographer you learn very quickly techniques that you can use to sneak up on animals." "Either using a hide or a blind, or long lenses." "In such difficult terrain, teamwork is essential." "We were able to work quite well together because of the fact that both of us needed the same thing." "To photograph wolves or to observe them you've got to get close." "The main thing we had to watch out for was just that we didn't disturb them." "With this kind of light, Dave," "I think we'll have to get a little closer." "It's awfully murky and heavy light." "Yeah, I think we can do it." "They don't show any sign of being disturbed now." "If Mom is like last year she'll be quite tolerant." "Yeah, but we can't take a chance." "It might not even be her." "Right." "Let's just go slowly at first." "There's nowhere to hide in this barren landscape, and the wolves see or sense anything that moves." "Mom knows the men are there but tolerates their careful, patient approach." "The pups were born in May;" "now five weeks old, they are constantly exploring." "For Dave Mech, this unusually intimate view provided important new information." "Already the benefits of watching the wolves so close up became apparent when I was able to see them nursing." "I could determine how long the pups nursed at each bout, how many bouts there were each day, and then watch this progress throughout the summer until finally weaning took place." "Although it's almost midsummer, the day is freezing cold" "A new experience for the pups." "They spent the first weeks of life in the den, sheltered by their mother's warmth." "Luckily, there are places to get away from the chilling wind." "The pups are a picture of quiet innocence, far removed from any image of wicked wolves howling for blood in the night." "Still, it's the howl that has always intrigued Jim Brandenburg." "Well, of all the sounds of nature I really believe that the wolf howl is the most evocative and the most mysterious." "I believe also that wolves have possibly gotten their bad reputation because of the howl." "To the wolves, howling is a very important part of communication their community spirit." "It's sort of like the glue that holds the family together." "I'd never been able to watch wild wolves while they were howling." "So!" "Wanted to look at howling very closely in all of its forms." "It's especially nice to be able to watch them while they're doing it." "You can't do that down in the forested areas but..." "That Alpha Male, to me, has the most distinctive voice for his..." "Halfway through the howl he changes an octave." "Wish I knew what it all meant though, you know, just like a lot of the sounds they make." "Um, you know that half bark." "There's a half bark that goes." "Yeah, that's perfect." "Yeah." "You know I sneezed today and the wolves all looked up." "And I was reminded that that probably means to them there's danger coming." "They didn't know if one of the wolves did it or..." "Yeah." "Then they realized it was me." "It's that staccato kind of a sound." "The mid-back, the one that's really dominant, came over to the pups and they all ran up to it," "And they started mobbing her like they do, and she was kind of upset in the process." "And she kind of barked at em." "And it was just a half bark, but instantly both Mom and Shaggy ran right up to her with tail between their legs and their rump was down and completely submissive." "It was a wonderful display, but it was all provoked by that one half bark." "So, you know, I wish we could understand these things more." "But it's sure intriguing to watch them all." "There are equally intriguing topics, such as the behavior of the pups." "As they've grown, their play has become more boisterous." "The pups play for hours on end." "It gives them exercise, allows them to develop muscle tone, and to practice various behavior patterns that they'll use for the rest of their lives like running, pouncing, stalking, and even submitting to each other." "Competing for food is a very important part of every wolf's life even amongst litter mates." "A pup grabs a feather and tries to hold onto it as long as he can." "This is similar to grabbing a piece of food and holding it." "In this respect learning tug-of-war becomes very important." "Today it's a feather, tomorrow it's a whole bird." "Now six weeks old, the pups have developed an urge to wander." "Their cautious parents attempt to control their exuberance." "Pups sometimes roam as far as half a mile from the den, but they are easily found and disciplined." "The young face little danger since there are no large predators around, such as the birds of prey that hunt young wolves elsewhere in the world." "Still, the parents keep the pups in line, carefully maintaining the pecking order or" ""dominance hierarchy" of the pack." "Mech is now investigating several areas of behavior, including the pups development and the reasons for the wolf's notorious howl." "When a pack wakes up they may begin to howl, and even the pups attempt to join in." "In the silence of the Arctic, the sound travels long distances." "To other wolves it means "stay away", "keep off our turf..."" "The pack is fiercely territorial." "Brandenburg noticed that the chorus often preceded a hunt, a useful cue for him to get ready to film." "It seems an unkind trick of nature that the arctic hares of" "Ellesmere keep their white coats in the summer." "Easy to spot, they are a favorite and nutritious food for wolves." "Although a hare can weigh eight pounds a wolf can down two in one day." "The hares must rely on their agility and speed to escape." "They can run and stand on their hind legs, which enables them to spot danger from a distance." "Unlike their parents, young hares blend in with the environment and stay perfectly still when wolves are nearby." "Among the most impressive beasts of the high Arctic are the musk oxen shaggy wanderers that graze in the wilderness a great challenge to the wolves." "How far off would you say that is, Dave?" "Oh, I'd guess a mile." "Close to a mile." "That's what I would say." "Well, I see at least five musk oxen." "They must have journeyed up from the valley below." "I don't know if they're trying to unnerve the musk oxen..." "Those animals can't eat now while they're all grouped up like that." "I wonder if there's a calf in there?" "There must be a calf in there somewhere." "Yeah, there is a calf, right in the middle there." "That's why they're so interested." "A standing circle of musk oxen present a formidable defense." "But it's part of the nature of wolves to attack and kill animals larger than themselves." "It's a skill that Mech and Brandenburg are eager to document." "Yeah, that male, that male wolf is heading away." "Looks like they've lost interest, huh?" "He's going right by them." "Yeah, they're probably going back to the den." "That's very defensible position those musk oxen are in." "Maybe if there were more wolves." "This is a usual situation if they don't make a kill." "The difficulties of filming a hunt begin to present Brandenburg with as much of a challenge as the wolves face in their quest for food." "In the perpetual light of summer, the Arctic can become surprisingly warm." "On these July days, huddling is no longer vital for the comfort of the pups, now two months old." "As summer races on, the heart of Ellesmere's tundra blossoms briefly." "Long-tailed jaegers raise their chicks among the dwarf willow and mosses." "Wolves often pass close to the nest on the ground but rarely take advantage of the easy prey." "They jaegers, nevertheless, are wary of both wolves and people." "The wolves appear surprisingly indifferent to these aggressive summer visitors." "They seem unwilling to compromise their dignity in battle with the jaegers." "They'll save their energy for catching a young musk ox." "Both the jaegers and the wolves have an eye on the human visitors, who've stopped for lunch." "As we lay there watching the wolves they'd often come up and check us out." "Of course, it was tempting to give them a little bit of our lunch and they welcomed any tidbit that they could find." "This helped develop a rapport between them and us that was very useful to our being able to observe them close up." "It's a remarkable moment an encounter between bird, wolf, and man." "Still, the boldness of the wolves created some anxiety." "Camping out right in the wolves back yard created a situation where I had the feeling at any time the wolves could have gone in and really torn the camp apart." "Because if they see something within their territory that's like a toy, a plaything they grab it and run around, tease each other with it." "And, of course, they seem to have a little more confidence." "And I think at times they felt we were intruding and they could do pretty much what they wanted." "At times it pays to "speak wolf"." "Every day, Jim Brandenburg is listening as well as watching, trying to anticipate the moment when the pack will set off to track down a musk ox herd." "This particular day they woke up and predictably after a long sleep, woke up with lots of excitement." "And I sensed very strongly that something big was about to happen." "Some days they would leave the den site and kind of wander casually and be gone for a couple hours and come right back." "But this particular day they took off in a straight line towards the east, single file, a very quick pace, the kind of pace that even with the advantage of machines it was very difficult to keep up." "The rough ground is no obstacle for an arctic wolf." "Each travels purposefully." "The pack has spread out but keeps in touch by howling from time to time." "While the wolves are within range of the den, their howls are heard by the pups and the female that watches over them." "Brandenburg, loaded with film stock and rations, is prepared to travel for days to film a major hunt." "One of the advantages of working in the high Arctic that you don't find in lower latitudes is you have 24 hours of daylight." "Here the wolves could never really get away from us and in the sense that they were always on stage with the lights full on." "And if we could simply keep up with them, and had enough time, eventually that scene could be played out in front of us." "There are anxious moments when the wolves are far ahead, out of sight." "Brandenburg has only their tracks and his intuition to follow." "The wolves have traveled 36 miles from the den, and Jim is still behind." "Finally, he catches up to the pack as they search for a place to cross a deep, fast-flowing river." "Again, his hopes of filming an attack on musk oxen are crushed." "It was quite a frustrating experience watching the wolves continue on in the distance out of sight, knowing that they were clearly going on to some fairly intense action." "With summer running out, Mech and Brandenburg decide that a change in plan is imperative." "Rather than follow the pack, they'll sit tight, following all that happens right here for the next 24 hours." "It made sense to commit a complete 24 hour documentation from one spot;" "Watch everything that happened, try to film the highlights of the behavior." "And I'd hoped to show an aspect of a day in the life of the wolf pack, near the den site, their coming and going, their interaction, their naps, their sleeps." "Anything that might happen within that 24 hour period." "Here comes one." "He's go hind feet" "or she does, it's a female." "It's interesting, usually they bring just the hind quarter back, or often they do." "But I mean I've never seen them bring the front quarters." "They may bring the whole hare." "The strategy begins to pay off almost at once." "A small drama of pack life unfolds within camera range another demonstration of the way a wolf's behavior indicates its rank in the family unit." "It appear that as part of their membership in the pack, the subordinates have to bring food home to the pups each day." "This probably helps maintain their status in the pack." "Even when hungry themselves the subordinates still will deliver food to the pups." "It seems that the dominant wolves need to show their subordinates that, even though the underlings have brought offerings of food, they must not forget who's boss." "As I watched them closely, I noticed that from time to time subordinates would actually steal food from the pups." "Most are young animals that are still learning how to hunt themselves so this surplus food forms an important part of their diet." "Wish I knew which male that was." "I think it's the one that limps." "Left shoulder's the one that's limping, though." "He's got a little limp in his left hind leg today as well as his left front." "Telling each of the pack members apart was always a challenge and a difficult thing to do." "However, we were aided by the fact that the Alpha Male usually dominated the other members of the pack." "And in doing so held his tail in the air." "To keep track of individual wolves." "Mech uses names like Shaggy, Scruffy, and Lone Ranger." "His observations show him that the Alpha Male has another recognition signal besides tail waiving." "The Alpha Male was also distinctive in that he raised his leg when he urinated." "The Alpha Female does that as well." "This raised-leg urination is a way of bonding the two together in a sexual tie." "That tie is recognized by all the other members of the pack." "It's quite warm today on Ellesmere Island, and the wolves, with their shaggy coats, may need some way of cooling down in the bright sunlight." "Below the surface of the tundra lies cooler soil." "The animals have little trouble reaching it." "The softest spots are the heathery hillsides." "I've actually watched wolves sleep there for as long as 18 hours at a time." "There's not much happening." "Jim, I think I'm gonna run a little test while the light it about the same and the wind," "And I'm also in the same position." "I'm gonna run down, get out of sight and howl." "And I'll go quite a ways." "I'm gonna imitate a strange wolf that's scared." "Sound good." "Yeah." "I'll record what time it was when I howled so if you get a response here you record the time that you get the response." "Yeah." "Yeah." "See you later." "Thanks." "I'll see you later." "Eventually, Dave's imitations seem to have another effect." "The pack is drawing to gether, though there may be some other cause for the excitement." "Two of the pack are waving their tails as signals of leadership, telling the others that they are in charge." "Mech, however, has seen nothing of this." "So what happened?" "Soon as you howled they listened, but no one moved." "And it was a very casual kind of response." "What, these other two came back..." "Yeah, it was the Alpha Male and Midback came back..." "Ok." "With their tails up really high." "Clearly an expression of "we're in charge'." "They had a fight down on the draw here" "With one of the other females?" "Couldn't see them." "Then they ran up on the hillside here and there was a mass of wolves." "It was difficult to sort it out." "They were pinning each other." "They were growling, biting, tails in the air." "A mass and a swirl, a swirling of wolves right out here in the green, green area." "And it's hard to say what..." "Did the pups get in on any of that stuff?" "A little." "They were following around but it was the big kids." "The 24 hour vigil is paying off." "Despite some long periods of inactivity, there is also some intriguing behavior" "Another arctic hare has been brought in for the pups, their second of the day." "At 16 weeks old, the young wolves are highly competitive." "When a pup is lucky enough to get a large piece of prey he has to run as far away as he can to avoid having it stolen by his litter mates." "At this point I get the impression that no one pup dominates the others and that all tend to get their share of the food." "When a large chunk of meat is brought in by a subordinate," "The Alpha pair are the first to try and steal it." "But a tug of war develops that allows each member of the pack to get a portion of the food." "The hare was caught nearby." "When prey is killed too far away to be brought back in an animal's jaws," "There is an alternative "catch-and-carry system"." "As pups are weaned from nursing more and more of their food comes from regurgitation by the adults." "The adults feed perhaps miles from the pups, carry the food in their stomach and bring it back to the den." "As an adult approaches with a full stomach it's really exciting to watch the pups mob it," "Particularly licking around their mouths." "And this triggers the adult to regurgitate to them." "Several weeks of watching it at a distance was quite frustrating." "I had always hoped to be at close hand while that happened because it was a very important part of behavior to film." "The 24-hour watch gave an opportunity to see this happen close at hand." "The Alpha Female brought back a nice meal for the puppies." "She for some reason chose not to do it to my back this time." "She unloaded her precious cargo right in front of the camera." "And the pups quickly gobbled it up." "Remaining alert throughout the 24 hours is not easy," "But the plan's success makes it worthwhile." "Brandenburg can finally rest, but his dream of photographing a musk ox hunt is not forgotten." "During Mech's turn on watch, the wolves grow curious." "From the start, Mom was the friendliest and most tolerant of the group." "This visit from her is a sign of the increasing trust and rapport between wolf and man." "Curiosity satisfied for the time being she sets off across the valley," "Leaving behind two very contented observers." "Before this visit to Ellsemere, the closest Dave Mech had managed to come to a wild wolf was 15 feet." "Now a wolf has come to him, and these 24 hours have been the most productive in his career." "As the wolves bed down and the team's vigil finally ends," "Mech decides on his next move to take advantage of this rare situation." "I really wanted to see just how close I could get to the pups." "If I could get close enough" "I could identify each one individually perhaps." "Or at least find a way of marking them so that I could." "And that would allow me then to see if there's any particular individual who was more aggressive than the others, or got more food, or perhaps was more exploratory." "But all this would require that I get close to them." "I also wanted to see just how Mom would regard me when I was that close to her pups." "It's three a.m. on a sunny but chilly night." "For whatever reason, Mom began to howl and the pups joined in." "I would have loved to have joined them as well," "But being so close to the den I thought perhaps my howl would have upset the entire pack." "Nevertheless, I couldn't resist at least going through the motions." "When he first arrived on Ellesmere, Mech could not be sure that the would ever get this close to the arctic wolves." "But the short summer season is almost over." "The men still dream of following the pack on a major hunt before the arrival of winter." "Time was running out, and I knew this hunt sequence was crucial to the success of the film." "In some ways the longer I waited the better the chances got." "As the pups get older they require more and more food." "And the pack becomes more and more intent upon finding that food." "The weather was right, we were well rested, the wolves were very intent, so this particular day all the signals were right." "I had my own reason for wanting to watch a kill up close." "In the past I've seen several from aircraft." "But each time it was only a swarm of wolves massing around the prey animal." "With the Ellesmere pack I may well be able to tell the role of each particular wolf in the entire hunting and killing process." "Catching a musk ox is not an easy job and the wolves must be careful and still avoid their hooves and their horns." "But when he wolves get close, the musk oxen must stop, group together, and face them." "They continue to harass the musk oxen until one begins to run." "When a herd panics it gives the wolves a chance to attack without so much fear of being injured." "Both predator and prey have to rest frequently and skirmishes like this may go on for hours." "If the herd is healthy a few such skirmished will tell the wolves that it's time to give up and go on to others." "The pack rested for 45 minutes and then took off for another five-mile jaunt." "We knew right away that the next encounter would be an interesting one." "This herd had at least three calves." "And it is the calves that the wolves seek out during the summer." "I could see that it was the Alpha pair that led the charge down to the herd." "One of the more interesting aspects was to see the different personalities of the wolves." "How I got to know them back at the den was one group of wolves, and what I saw in front of me seemed to be a different group of wolves." "They truly became killing machines." "The wolves separated out a calf from the herd and the calf's mother decided to go on in the safety of the group." "It's hard to know where to look cause the rest of the pack tried to separate out a second calf." "Meanwhile back with the first calf the Alpha Male clings to a hind leg." "Even with the whole pack on its head it took about five minutes for the calf to go down." "For three tense hours on the tundra plain," "Dave and Jim witness a scene older than mankind." "The Alpha pair takes possession of the carcass, even though the whole pack was in on the kill." "The wolf depends on meat for its survival." "Its ability to catch, kill and rapidly digest its prey has been honed over millions of years." "But this behavior after the kill was new to the photographer and even to the biologist," "Who had seen it elsewhere but was still surprised by its intensity." "What seems to be going on is that these subordinate animals are food begging just as they did as pups." "Although this was a strong scene to watch," "I was jubilant to have seen it close up." "And to have been able to confirm the dominant role of the Alpha animals." "The wolves consume as much as they can but the calf is large, and there's meat left over." "Chunks are carried off to be buried in the icy ground, a natural form of cold storage." "The wolves may return for the food when hunting is poor and the pups are hungry." "Their stomachs full of food to be regurgitated for the pups, the wolves are ready to begin the trek back to the den." "They've suffered some injuries, but all five are strong enough to make the journey." "By September the pups have grown considerably, thanks to successful hunting during the summer." "They'll need stamina and strength to make it through the coming season." "Already the sunshine is weakening into the twilight that precedes the long darkness of polar winter." "The arctic wolves coats are now long and thick enough to protect them from temperatures that will plunge far below zero." "Shrouded in snow and continual darkness," "The adults must still hunt and scavenge for their pups." "But no one knows what they do in winter;" "That remains an Arctic mystery, a five-month gap in a story that can only be continued when the men return next year." "It is the following spring." "Mech and Brandenburg have returned to Ellesmere to resume their work." "When I returned once again in the spring the pack had changed." "Three members were missing and there was a new Alpha Male, probably one of the subordinates that moved up into the old one's place" "What happened to the old Alpha Male I can't say, but three wolves were found dead in the area at the end of winter." "Getting to know the small, cuddly puppies, watching them grow and seeing all the energy that was invested in them by the adults, knowing they going into a very harsh winter I often wonder what'd ever become of them," "knowing that they all can't survive." "Most of the time the wolves go off and die in places that you'd never see" "But to be able to go over and actually touch and feel the ribs sticking out was a very poignant moment." "The mysteries of winter lead to more questions in the spring." "Did these animals die of starvation, disease, old age, or some other cause?" "When and why did the change in the social order of the pack occur?" "The more I watch these wolves the more questions come to mind." "As the pack composition changes from year to year, the social behavior changes," "Both in relation to each other and to the pups." "Seeing the wolves around the den again immediately told me that I was in store for another summer of good data collecting." "I was absolutely certain there was a litter when I saw the mother emerge begging food from one of the subordinates." "She really can't hunt much on her own during the first three weeks since she must stay in the den and keep the pups warm during this period." "In a remarkable display of tolerance," "Mon allows Brandenburg to enter the den to view her new litter." "It was a difficult decision whether to go into the den or not." "Once it was made it was very satisfying to know that they trusted me so much at this point that they allowed me with their young." "These pictures are courtesy of a wild arctic wolf." "Can we return its trust, or will we cling to our simplistic belief that these are nothing but vicious predators?" "In the high Arctic, man has now seen more of wolves than ever before." "Brandenburg and Mech have shown them to be tolerant, resilient creatures, bound to each other by their complex social rules, living and hunting together for the sake of survival." "Like the giant sea monsters that once stalked the ocean floors, an unlikely creature still roams the earth." "So much like the treasured whales of the seas, elephants are the precious last remnants of the largest land animals in the world." "Even a gigantic bull will play away the day, wallowing in the coolness of a life that ambles along at its won pace..." "A life as long as our own, but with so much more time" "to be simply what they are." "But this sense of calm and meditation can be deceptive." "For a whole year one small herd races against time and the drying water holes." "Often the battle over the precious water enrages them." "Two tiny calves are caught up in this struggle, coaxed through their early years that are fraught with dangers." "As large as they are, elephants are sensitive and gentle creatures." "Haunting discoveries of burial rituals, language, and understanding suggest intelligence and even emotions." "These are the last of a dying race." "Watching them, we can reflect, not only on their complex behavior, but on our own as well." "Join us for a few moments and Reflections on Elephants." "Africa seldom relaxes." "It always seems to be waiting for the gentler moments to pass." "Around rainwater pools strewn across the dry country of Botswana, doves and sandgrouse stir up the air in a frenzy to drink before the soft edges of the day burn off." "Elephants are is symbol of the African wilderness, woven into its fabric like the blazing skies and the endless savannas." "In the midst of a swirling dance of smaller creatures, huge males live separate lives usually ignoring any passing herds of females and calves." "Around these scattered water holes they live out their isolation, slowly drawing life from the earth's open wounds." "With a life-span of,6 years or longer elephants pursue the rhythms of lifeat a leisurely but determined pace." "Each movement is a calculated conservation of energy, each day a tiny investment in legend." "In the crisp morning a herd of females and calves pads in silently from the forest." "It is unusual for females like these to wander into the bull area," "But they are anxious." "It's been an eventful night." "A calf was born to the matriarch, the leader of this herd." "From the first day danger is every where." "The youngster is a female and she will be guided carefully through life by her mother and the other family members." "Because elephant societies are led by females and her mother is a matriarch," "It is likely that one day she too will have to carry on that tradition of leadership." "But for now she seems blissfully unaware of the dangers of life, more concerned with keeping close to her mother and balancing on her one-day-old legs." "For this young calf, lions will be a recurring threat to her life." "Towering giants block the way." "The determined opportunist is reluctant to go." "When the calf flounders in theunfamiliar muddy water, she panics." "But at this age, help is seldom far away." "They bunch together, protecting her within a wall of legs and trunks." "Even the females have tusks that lions must avoid." "Safe against the bank, the little female has to contend with another new challenge" "The first bowel movement, an unbalancing and alarming experience" "With the lions still menacing, the matriarch must soon move her calf out of the water hole" "With her front toenails she breaks away the edges, making a ramp for the short strides of the baby." "As she leads her family through the gauntlet of lions," "The matriarch's bloodstained legs are a testament to a stressful night and a new beginning" "The start of a long journey." "This journey takes place in southern Africa." "Once elephants roamed over most of this continent." "They still wander freely over all of their ancestral range in Botswana, one of the last havens for wild elephants." "These seasonal movements of following the water cover over forty thousand square miles" "The matriarch is guiding her herd along a network of ancient paths." "She has decided to visit an old site to supplement the diet of the herd." "They dig open the holes and turn the soil into fine, white powder." "Locked inside the dust are sodium and other valuable minerals that have leached into these soils." "These mineral digs are investigated, remembered, and used..." "A rudimentary form of self-medication." "It's not long before she gives the command to move on." "As they glide along they communicate gently in rumbles of very low frequencies." "These sounds, almost silent to us, drift over the herd... just vibrations floating in the dust." "Ahead, at the next water hole, a tragic drama is unfolding." "Another calf has been abandoned in the first few days of its life." "Sometimes sick or old females struggling to survive do leave infant calves to fend for themselves." "Innocent to the virtues of silence in the dark, the young elephant calls out to the shadows." "The cry in answered." "But the hyena is nervous, wary of the approaching elephants." "When the matriarch leads her herd intothe water, they are drawn to the disturbance." "But with a long journey ahead, this abandoned calf could be a grave burden to the whole herd." "And he is rejected." "Perhaps the calls are too chilling, and the herd returns." "The calf is caught up in the swirl of running legs, and swept off into the dark." "Adoption is rare in most species, but by daybreak the rescued calf is part of the herd." "Now, however, he has even greater challenges to deal with." "It's an adoption, but by some strange twist of fate, his new mother is the matriarch," "Who already has her own newborn daughter." "He is immediately seen as a competitor for the rich-flavored milk." "Elephants rarely have two calves at a time, so usually there is no competition for milk." "Whether the matriarch adopted the calf or the calf found the only lactating female in the herd, is hard to tell." "But his rescue is no less than remarkable." "Now he faces a new threat... starvation by sibling rivalry." "Probing and testing like serpents coaxed out by a charmer's flute," "Sensitive trunks dance for a hidden delicacy." "Each shake is followed by a moment's silence, not in reverence, But to listen for the seed pods falling." "These pods are harvested annually." "The trees are seldom damaged... unlike the robust mopane trees that they smash down to get to the nutritious upper leaves" "A little bark from certain acacias yields fatty acids and minerals." "It is thought that the fiber in the bark has medicinal sues for elephants as it does for humans." "Herds all over northern Botswana are on the move now traversing the corridors of their memories..." "Ancient trails that run like long veins of life, spreading out, then converging on the scattered water holes." "The most vulnerable are the very young" "By the age of three, fewer than half the calves survive." "Some lions specialize in outmaneuvering the herds," "Waging a constant way of nerves." "Sometimes older calves become isolated separated because their mothers have new young to lookafter." "These newborn can be snatched up easily and must be well guarded." "Often the older calves must fend for themselves." "As harsh as it may seem, it is necessary." "With animals that live so long some deaths are important to regulate the population." "Only in paradise is death banned from claiming the weak." "At the water hole a lone male suddenly feels the awakenings in his body." "It is the time of his musth." "Like the new dawn, this feeling is fresh and vital." "He can take on anything." "Musth comes to males once a year," "But only begins halfway through their lives." "This is their breeding phase, when high levels of testosterone turn their thoughts to conquests." "Another bull has the same feelings of elation today and is also ready to confront the world." "When a breeding herd of females glides towards the combatants, the silence is deceptive." "This victorious bull has already heard the low rumbles from an eager female across the plain." "As he draws nearer, she coyly breaks away." "And the chase is on." "He hunts her down." "She knows she is being hunted, and with a smaller body weight" "She could easily outrun him as she has lesser suitors this week." "But this time she is willing and stops" "Elephant mating takes a lot of cooperation." "This coordinates sexual readiness of both male and female is quite unique in animals and for several days they will stay together." "By soliciting this musth bull, she has purposely chosen her mate, and wins as a prize his dominant genes for her offspring." "Her calf will be born nearly two years from now." "Waves of thirsty giants stampede the water holes." "Anything in the way is chased off." "But before rushing in, they stop and test the air." "Each family, under the leadership of their matriarch," "Maintains long-distance contact with other groups." "As the groups meet at the water holes, they melt together to become one clan again." "Here they congregate and reinforce bonds." "Even after short separations," "Greetings are very active and affectionate." "Screams of tension drive out non-clan members;" "Elephants tend to avoid strangers." "But the large water holes attract herds from all around," "Both wanderers and regulars on this route." "All mass together, but maintain their discrete groups around the water hole, hundreds or sometimes even thousands at a time." "These gentle animals appear to want to avoid stressful encounters." "With language skills of at least twenty-five different concepts," "A complex "stacking" system is at work at these water holes" "When incoming herds signal, the herd that was drinking vacates the water." "In all this activity, the matriarch has arrived." "Over the last two months the adopted," "Smaller calf seems to have worked out a way to survive." "The water is still an unfamiliar experience for both calves." "The adopted calf, possibly with less pleasant associations, is even more reluctant to venture in, despite the gentle coaxing." "Others are here for the water as well." "As hundreds of buffalo crowd in, stress rumbles through the elephant herds like an electric storm." "Boxed in by the huge herd of buffalo, the matriarch and her family are forced to use the steep side of the bank." "An older calf is jostled into the water." "With the buffalo still threatening, a quick rescue is mounted." "Displaying an intelligence of communication and astounding logic," "Theelephants divide their efforts." "Some fend off the buffalo while others tend to the frantic calf." "Just a gentle stabilizer is needed and a well-placed trunk does the job." "And still the matriarch doesn't lead them away." "They need water before attempting the long journey ahead." "In their eagerness to drink, the smaller, adopted calf is shoved over the edge and into the mud." "Now the danger of a buffalo stampede is even greater than before." "The thick mud sucks at the calf's back legs." "Following the matriarch's lead they all climb into the mud to help." "Desperate attempts to break down the bank only make the problem worse." "The two females combine efforts, using tusks and trunks like shovels to keep the calf from drowning, while another digs a ramp." "Together the two females squeeze and push at the calf." "The suction underneath is suddenly released and the calf is free at last." "They tenderly reassure and smell the youngster, rescued for the second time in his life." "The concerned herd now bunches against the converging buffalo" "Outrage runs like wildfire among the herds, sparking explosions of aggression." "But the buffalo keep pouring out of the forest, and dust hangs like smoke on a battlefield." "The contest is finally resolved." "As the dust settles, the buffalo disperse." "Somewhere in the confusion, a young buffalo was struck heavily in the head and side." "The calf is doomed, injured beyond hope." "The two calves move off with the herd." "Having avoided a muddy death themselves." "The young buffalo's broken body is left behind." "It causes some concern to the departing elephants," "Suggesting an awareness of in jury and death, even of other species." "Like huge cathedrals or ancient monoliths," "The solid shapes block out the sun." "A long way from the congregating female herds, the bulls gently sway to a rhythmic dance of the giants" "A shuffle of constant adjustment in a display of dominance and submission." "Each one of these bulls has a rank each responds to the next one." "Every newcomer to the gathering provokes a reaction that flashes through the memories of all the contestants." "Anyone unsure of his status soon learns the rules of this tournament of giants." "Status is determined by body size, rage;" "tusks have little to do with it." "The contest is for water, as usual." "In a classic bull area like Savuti, up to 266 elephants compete for this one resource." "In this melee they must constantly be aware of who is around" "A sensitive tail is an advantage." "With their head used like huge medieval maces, bodies jostle and tusks joust for precious liquid." "This struggle may seem like a chaotic free-for-all." "But with each changing combination, the field plan of the hierarchy is reset in a surprisingly orderly fashion" "One ghostly form is excluded from the commotion." "His gaunt features and sagging skin are sure signs of his age and fading energy for life." "With his last set of grinding teeth nearly worn away, his days are numbered." "Too weak to join in, he can only watch the competing bulls, and wait." "By dusk his body cries out for the moisture leached from it by the heat." "He can no longer resist, and with fewer bulls around the water, he makes his move." "Drawing himself up to his full height, he forces himself into the circle." "At last the drinks." "When a mud-covered, dominant bull returns, the ghostly elephant should retreat." "But the water still beckons him." "It is a mistake." "A jagged tusk slices through the old skin into his neck." "The old bull goes down with barely a struggle," "losing blood fast." "Even before the old bull dies, a young male carries out a bizarre mock-mating display." "This behavior can only be explained as an attempt to upgrade his own status with this show of domination." "The old bull dies quickly and silently in the night, though his fate was long since determined." "Companions defend the carcass against the hyenas, a useless endeavor." "His body must continue its usefulness to Africa, even after his death." "Like an ancient burial ritual, attention is paid to every detail." "We don't yet understand this behavior." "Is it a macabre fascination with the dead or perhaps a tribute to a fallen companion?" "And why is the ivory so often the focus of these haunting examinations?" "As a week passes, the carcass gradually relinquishes its form." "There is no mythological elephant graveyard, no common place where bones and tusks are taken... just the eventual scatterings in the dust." "As the last scavengers squabble over the scraps of the body," "A few bulls remain, perhaps still nurturing a special bond with the old elephant." "Before we could really understand his ways and the ways of his species," "The bull's spirit floats away." "Eight days and what was once a giant of the world is no more thanjust a memory, just a reflection of a time when elephants roamed Africa from sea to sea and ruled the continent." "Once again the clans are gathering, marching for the rivers." "Paths interlace, leaving behind a swath of flattened vegetation." "This constant ebb and flow of bodies affects some areas while resting others," "A balance that is forever changing." "The females head for the best feeding and good water, not only for the living, But for their unborn as well." "The final miles are covered on the run toward the rivers." "Here the matriarch and her calves will see out the next three months of the dry season." "Even in this chaotic clamor for water," "The elephants show a sensitivity and awareness of who is around them and where their other clan families are" "After a grueling six months, the calves, possibly sensing that their constant march is over take on a new playfulness and relax." "But now when the oppressive heat stings their dark bodies," "They can hide from its burning fingers" "Gradually the elephants drop down like weary puppets at the end of a show." "both young and old drifting into a rare sleepiness." "For them there are easy ways to shut out the world." "They seldom allow themselves to sleep for long." "Just a few minutes at a time are needed by animals with such long, slow lives." "Only when they are all up and ready will the matriarch lead them out of the shade, always keeping the herd together." "But sometimes things go wrong." "Occasionally calves are left behind and wander around lost," "Testing each herd they approach." "When he sees the matriarch and goes to greet the herd, this young male is turned away" "His best chance of being found is to keep searching." "Despite their good communication," "These separations are inevitable." "Newborn calves have begun to displace the older ones." "Unbeknown to him, his real family is across the plain heading into the forest." "Suddenly he finds himself among lions." "Before he can turn away, the juvenile is locked in a deadly game." "But this time innocence is matched by inexperience." "The lions are young and seem more intent on experimenting thank killing." "Lions often prey on the weak, but this calf is lost," "Not ailing... a determined opponent with a thick hide, not easy to penetrate." "But soon he tires and the lions close in for the kill." "Quite suddenly the experiment is over." "The lions are exhausted, and lose interest." "The calf responds, surprising the lions with his new zest for life." "As they watch, he slips away." "What emotions elephants feel during these struggles we do not know" "That they do feel something is quite apparent." "Back in the bull area, when old bones have all but turned to dust," "The mud relinquishes a precious last reminder of the old bull at the water hole." "Like a trophy, it is carried into the open, displayed, and fondled." "Like a memory, it is tasted and nurtured." "This haunting behavior is difficult to understand." "How can we ever know what elephants feel and what form these emotions take" "A mystery, forever." "When they attempt to destroy ivory by smashing it against rocks or try to crush tusks by standing on them, are they displaying a new behavior... a solemn response to the atrocities of our time?" "Or is this an ancient ritual and if so what does it mean?" "At the river the matriarch" "leads her herd on a final push for better feeding on the north bank." "Swimming is little problem for elephants." "They share an ancestry with seagoing mammals like dugongs and manatees." "Large, vacant, nasal and sinus cavities keep their heavy heads afloat, and their fat makes them buoyant." "On the south bank a timid young bull refuses to swim and watches the herd disappear" "By now the young bull has given up all attempts at swimming." "The herd's ancient knowledge has betrayed them this time." "For when they finally emerge on the north bank," "They have crossed into another country, Namibia." "The stranded young bull still calls to them in alarm." "The herd is now fair game for hunters poachers and traders" "A wave of communication flashes back and forth across the river." "Then, reacting as one, they plunge into the water so swim back to the young bull" "Although by now the exhausted young calves are at risk of drowning in the strong current," "A fatal conflict with man has been avoided." "On the south bank greetings and urgent reassurances flood from the herd," "But he will not be persuaded." "The herd gives up and remains on the familiar and safer soils of Botswana..." "The end of the restless journey for the matriarch and her calves, for this year." "This may be the last generation of elephants to traverse these ancestral ranges, the last truly free elephants." "As we succeed more and more as a species," "They seem to trickle further and further from our reach." "It has been said that we could do worse than mold our own lives on those of elephants..." "Lives filled with dignity and gentle bearing, and time." "Perhaps we need more time to understand those gentle celebrations of life and death that are like silent whispers in the moonlight... more time for reflectionson elephants" "Dawn comes to the African plain." "And a lethal beauty comes stalking out of the shadows." "As they have for generations, the hunter confronts the hunted." "This is the story of two lives bound together in tooth and blood." "Leopard and warthog, predator and prey" "Ever opposed, ever entwined." "They share but one struggle to survive each new day in a harsh land." "The warthog has been called" ""the most astonishing object to ever disgrace nature."" "Yet for all its comic bumps and bulges it has managed to hold its own in the realm of the leopard." "The domain of the cat stretches across the eastern Transvaal of South Africa," "where the Sand River snakes through the Kruger National Park" "and the Mala Mala Game Reserve." "Here flourishes a remarkable community of animals... a world where day by day, the same individuals cross paths time and again." "Among them is a female leopard." "This is her home." "And she's not shy about letting others of her kind know it." "She is beautiful, elegant, and deadly." "The leopard comes cloaked in mystery, elusive and intense." "Even in mating, she is wound ever so tight." "Of all the great cats, this surely is the wildest." "By contrast, consider the courtship of the warthog." "Chin to rump, he pleads his case." "But even a suitor's best-laid plans can go awry." "The warthog's a plodder, a herbivore." "But one thing no warthog will stand for during this delicate time is an intruding male." "Night belongs to the leopard." "And with the sunset, the male and female come together once more to mate." "As mating, this is almost predatory." "In time, our leopard becomes a mother." "She has two newborn cubs... sisters." "Her offspring need her care and protection." "Here, the threats are all around." "One of the deadliest is the hyena." "Once hyenas become aware of the den site, she must take immediate action to safeguard her two little cubs." "Awaiting them is a less vulnerable home" "Nearby, in the remains of a termite mound, another birth is about to take place." "The infant warthogs come struggling out of the womb." "Barely five minutes into the world and he's already trying to stand." "From the outset, even at their first feeding, the warthogs' true character can be seen." "They may start off looking old before their time... but they are feisty, rambunctious, above all, tenacious." "And they will need to be, for daunting days lie ahead." "Both the newborn warthogs and month-old leopards are about to set off on parallel journeys through the seasons of the veld." "Slowly, tentatively, the cubs leave behind the safety of their refuge." "Outside, a new world awaits them." "And there are many dangers they know nothing about." "For two baby sisters, the lessons start small, like how to subdue their mother's tail" "This early roughhousing will teach the cubs crucial skills like how to pin down prey and deliver a killing bite." "And right from the start, it's clear the firstborn learns fast." "Shy and solitary, the leopard is a creature of the shadows." "Even upside down, the leopard won't let go of her prey." "Suffocation brings an end that's ruthless, but mercifully efficient." "But she'll never have a chance to enjoy this meal." "The jaws of a hyena can pulverize bone" "The mother leopard can't risk a battle not with two cubs relying on her." "Lightning is an awesome spectacle to the cubs seeing it for the first time." "Down in their burrow, the little piglets are just as scared of the crashing and the fire in the sky." "But nothing will stop the hungry hyenas from their feasting." "As the deluge intensifies, the mother warthog tries to shore up her burrow." "But it's a losing battle." "With the water seeping in, the young warthogs take refuge the only place they can on their mother's back." "For the bedraggled piglets, this is life threatening." "Because of their sparse hair covering, many young warthogs will die of exposure within the first weeks of life." "When finally the night clears, her firstborn cub ventures forth." "Unlike her warthog neighbors, she's hardly the worse for wear." "The mother leopard keeps her cubs close" "There's far more than rain to protect them from." "Still in the calm after the storm, there's always time for a nuzzle or two." "With sunrise, the terrors of the night drift away." "The warthog family is thriving now." "Unlike the leopards, the gregarious animals ban together." "It's an extended family, and it means more security for the young cousins and more fun too." "First some rivalries must be sorted out with a little bumping and pushing." "And then, it's playtime." "One warthog is a bit bolder and bouncier than the rest who follow in his wake." "But there's method in this apparent madness." "One day their lives will depend on their speed." "A little strenuous exercise deserves a good long drink, a pick-me-up of piglets, mother's milk" "Up a shady maroela tree, the mother leopard is on the lookout for prey." "As the heat of the day builds, the warthogs head down to the water hole for a real treat a good wallow." "But they're not the only ones going that way." "The mother warthog is alert, but she hasn't yet picked up the threat." "The water feels great." "The youngsters, including the bold and bouncy one, are caught up in their discoveries." "They're finding out how useful the mud can be for those hard to reach spots." "A few feet more and she'll be in range" "The predator must kill to survive." "The prey must escape." "Tails at full mast, the little warthog and his siblings stay close together." "They have just been given their first lesson in the virtues of speed." "It won't be their last." "Midday in the warmth of the African sun, the leopard cubs are mastering another lesson: the art of the ambush" "For the firstborn and her sister, these are crucial games." "As the day wears on, not everyone is playing." "The hyena pack is on the prowl." "Something has caught their eye a lioness with a broken leg." "She's unable to keep up with her pride" "Not only is she crippled, she's pregnant and close to giving birth." "The hyenas won't attack." "Not yet." "The lioness is still too strong." "But their time will come." "A long night is on its way." "The mother warthog and her piglets can retreat when the sun goes down to the refuge of their burrow." "But for many others, as night descends the plains are all too open, all too exposed." "Only the hunters walk without fear." "The mother leopard's stalk is triggered by a scent on the breeze... a scrub hare." "But the little hare has a few tricks too, and it'll try every one" "until it's overwhelmed." "But this hare isn't just a meal, it's a lesson in hunting." "Rather than kill her prey outright, the mother brings it back for her cubs." "The firstborn is eager to practice, unlike her timid sister." "She's not simply playing with her food she's learning about the fine line between life and death." "It's knowledge her sister won't get watching from the sidelines." "Too nervous to enter into the fray, she hangs back while her sister attacks" "If character is destiny, an intrepid spirit may make all the difference in the African night." "The precocious cub is rewarded with a meal." "Full moon on the African plain." "The cycle turns from death to fragile new life." "The crippled lioness has given birth." "But weak and wounded, she can never take care of this cub." "And at the first sound of danger, she limps away." "The baby's cries will attract the hyena pack." "With the terrible logic of survival, she's forced to leave her youngster to protect herself." "Still she can't shake off the hyenas." "Too weary to go on, she braces herself for the coming battle." "Her growl is stronger than she is." "It's just enough to keep the mob at bay." "There's easier prey around." "The plaintive cries of the abandoned lion cub echo through the night." "And they attract a deadly visitor." "Normally, the mother leopard would kill this cub without thinking twice." "But she hesitates." "Perhaps it has aroused her maternal feelings." "And now, with her old antagonists closing in, she's got a dilemma." "Should she take it?" "Should she stay?" "There is no choice." "She could never raise this baby." "With her goes the little one's last chance." "Unaware of her baby's fate, the lioness is calling for her pride." "But they are no where to be found." "Her roars are heard, not by the pride, but by rogue male lions, a pair of powerful nomads." "They come at a run." "Their intentions, like their movements a blur." "This behavior is highly unusual, but no less savage." "Their killer instinct is so strong, their urge to attack an injured animal so powerful, that they seemingly cannot stop." "In the dark hours, the young are more vulnerable than ever." "Left behind while their mother hunts, their instinct is to explore." "Yet each time they do, they face greater risks." "This is when death stalks the savannah" "The thieves are never far off." "Unlike the mother, the male leopard will stand his ground, especially with this young hyena." "And when the scavenger retreats, the male savors his feast." "The mother has a much bigger worry." "Her cubs." "They're not where she left them." "As her anxiety deepens, her mate, high above the ground, senses a new threat." "So do the persistent hyenas below." "One's got his foot caught." "Looking for a meal, he may soon turn into a meal himself." "It's now or never." "The male leopard too must avoid being trapped by the lions." "Mounting the tree with surprising ease a lioness claims the abandoned carcass" "Enticed, an adolescent male tries to follow." "But he's not much of a climber." "He's bitten off more than he can chew." "And right now, he's not chewing much of anything." "The smartest one's the female below." "Soon the inevitable happens." "And the lioness that did all the work is left to swing in the breeze." "Only the scraps are left." "A 26-foot drop barely fazes her." "Once more the leopards have provided a feast for their foes." "Although the lions might hear her, the mother leopard is still calling into the empty night." "She's now desperate to find her cubs." "She searches through the tall grass, seeking a familiar scent, a scent that might lead does lead to her cub." "It's the little shy one, killed by the lions." "She never learned to fend for herself." "Not even a mother's tender affection can make a difference now." "Still somewhere out there is her first-born." "And the culprits are still prowling nearby." "All she can do is call, over and over again." "Until... hidden in the grass is her cub." "Independent as ever, she has endured." "At last, mother and cub have found each other." "This must feel like joy." "One has died and one has survived." "The cub must now find other playmates, other playthings where she can." "She has made it through the toughest trial of her youth." "Soon enough, she will have to face the harsh world around her all by herself." "Death can't hold back the dawn." "In this hard land, the passing of one little leopard is barely noticed." "As hesitantly pugnacious as ever, the warthogs emerge into the light." "Tucked away in their burrow, they have weathered this, and many nights unlike the unfortunate little cub." "Even this small, dead body makes them nervous." "The upraised mane shows their wariness" "They can't quite be sure the little leopard won't suddenly spring to life." "After all, it would be their worst nightmare to run into this cub all grown up." "Yet a quick dig at an old enemy is just too good an opportunity to pass up." "Then again, sometimes they just scare themselves." "A year goes by." "Another spring comes to Mala Mala." "For the leopards, change is as inevitable as the turning of the seasons." "At 26 months, the cub is coming into her own." "There's a new tension between mother and daughter." "One day soon they will be competitors." "Where once there was affection, there is now indifference, even aggression." "It's a sad but inescapable moment as the mother forces her youngster off into the world." "She's now completely alone." "The coming of the rainy season mirrors the melancholy transformation." "For the new generation of leopard and warthog, zebra and hyena, the trials will be unending." "On the savannah, hunger must be faced each day, every day." "The first tests of a solo hunter start off simply enough." "But they're trickier than they look." "A hammerkop is simply the wrong prey." "And a turtle it may be slower... but it's not necessarily any easier." "How does this work?" "Where exactly are the teeth supposed to go?" "It's hard to believe that something so simple to catch could be so difficult to eat." "It's really better as a toy than a meal." "The leopard is still half a cub." "She's still playing." "But soon she'll have to put away her childish things and get down to the serious business of life." "You can only play so long." "What she needs is real prey like impala some as young as she." "This is what she's been training for." "She's stalking well." "She's forgotten just one thing" "a noisy tree squirrel." "The impala seem to mock her as they go" "There are many frustrations for the novice hunter." "The road to knowledge is a hungry one." "For the inexperienced leopard, everything must seem bigger and lonelier and scarier than ever before." "This evening, returning to their burrow, the young warthog and his siblings discover something's wrong." "Their mother is giving them a not-so-subtle hint" "It's time they were out on their own." "But being out on your own can be exhausting work." "Like the leopard, the warthog is now truly alone." "He needs to find a safe retreat for the evening." "But they're all taken." "And now the clock is ticking." "The warthog and the leopard have grown up side by side, yet always at a comfortable distance." "But that gap is closing." "Then suddenly the leopard is under attack." "An empty burrow is an unexpected chance for safety." "The young leopard has tasted warthog blood and she's not ready to quit." "As for the hyena, he'll never give up." "It's not in his nature." "And so they end the night leopard, hyena and warthog locked in a three-way standoff." "The skirmish has left its mark on the young leopard." "Down below the warthog is shaken too." "It's been a rough time for all of them" "But both animals can claim at least this victory" "They have made it through the long night." "Battered and scarred, the warthog is lucky to have survived the confrontation." "Like the ones that went before, each new generation must earn its place on the savannah." "Over the coming months, the leopard gets bigger, stronger." "Yet one achievement continues to elude her." "She's still unable to outwit the adult impala." "They're better at this than she is." "In the midst of the impalas are the warthog and his siblings." "They use the impalas as an early warning system protection against mutual enemies." "The leopard has arrived." "And this time she hasn't been detected." "The impalas sense danger, but they're not sure where." "The leopard zeroes in on the warthog." "Once more they stand just yards apart." "The impalas scatter in panic." "But this time she's tackled the biggest prey a full-grown male." "But can she hold on to it?" "Success." "And for the warthogs escape." "This is the leopard's grand moment her coming of age." "Over time, she will take many impalas into the trees." "Of course, her triumph brings two familiar foes." "But now she's learned to handle even them." "The hyenas are left to vent their frustration on each other." "Hunter and hunted side by side" "Each has mastered this world in its own way." "And each has but one reward to guide the next generation into the African dawn." "From deep in the earth come clues to mystery nearly 2,000 years old." "They died instantly, victims of a volcano's wrath." "But only now are we beginning to piece together the mosaic that tells of their tragic final hours." "Pulsing with an electric energy uniquely its own, southern Italy is also the intimate companion of destruction and death." "Active for 17,000 years," "Mount Vesuvius erupted most recently in 1944, devastating two towns." "Only a few miles from Vesuvius another town lives with yet a different threat." "Here, the sea appears to be boiling, the earth regularly grumbles and groans and sulfuric gases choke the air." ""Vesuvius slumbers", one scientist wrote," ""but his heart is still awake"." "A microcosm of our eternal battle with forces we cannot tame, this is life in the shadow of Vesuvius" "Washed by the placid waters of the Bay of Naples, the region of Campania has long attracted poets and travelers, emperors and kings." "Two thousand years ago writers described Campania as" ""the most blest land"," ""the fairest of all regions, not only in Italy but in all the world"," ""a place where the summers are cool and winters warm and where the sea dies away gently as it kisses the shore"." "The climate and extraordinarily rich soil enabled farmers then, as now, to grow grapes, olives, and up to four seed crops a year." "But 2,000 years ago few understood that the richness of the soil was a gift from the mountain in their midst that the mountain was in fact a volcano." "Today we know Mount Vesuvius as one of the most famous, and infamous, volcanoes in history." "The most active volcano on the mainland of Europe, it has erupted some 50 times since the Roman era." "Looming over a metropolis vastly expanded since Roman times," "Vesuvius, the "flaming mountain", is no less of a threat today." "Today, Vesuvius's shadow falls on some two million people in the greater Naples area one of the most densely populated urban areas in all of Europe." "Nowhere else in the Western world do such vast numbers dwell in the immediate vicinity of an active volcano." "Though most Neapolitans either don't know or refuse to believe that Vesuvius is an active volcano, local scientists are on 24-hour alert." "Seismic information from throughout the region is continually monitored." "With no practical civil defense plan possible caught unaware, the goal is to accumulate enough data to be able to develop an early warning system." "The science of plate tectonics tells us that the earth's outer shell is composed of about a dozen rigid plated that are in continuing motion." "The movements cause the plates to clash in several ways." "One is called subduction, in which one plate grinds beneath another." "As this happens, the heat of the earth's interior creates magma hot liquid rock." "In this way about 80% of the world's volcanoes are formed." "Along the coast of Italy subduction has created an entire string of volcanoes." "The most famous in Italy, and perhaps the world, is Mount Vesuvius." "Here, the power of nature's forces has been felt, at Pozzuoli," "Naples itself," "San Sebastiano, and two towns made famous when Vesuvius buried them in 79 A. D." "Herculaneum and Pompeii." "Lost and forgotten for more than 1,600 years," "Pompeii is one of the great archaeological sites of the world, as much for its poignant story as for its historical significance." "Lying six miles from the foot of Vesuvius," "Pompeii was a thriving Roman commercial center of some 15000 people, specializing in the export of wine, fish sauce, and woolen cloth." "Its boundless prosperity was reflected in the name of its main road:" "Street of Abundance." "Kept safe from the ravages of time by the very volcanic debris that buried it." "Pompeii is the largest site of the ancient world so completely preserved." "In addition to homes and shops." "Pompeii had its own marketplaces, baths, and theaters." "More than a hundred taverns and inns catered to merchants and traders arriving by land and sea from the farthest reaches of the Roman Empire." "Bakers were among the busiest tradesmen" "Grain was ground into flour in stone mills turned by animals or slaves." "In the oldest known Roman amphitheater built 100 years before the Colosseum in Rome," "20,000 spectators thrilled to sporting events, gladiator contests, and battles with wild animals." "Soon after excavation was begun." "Pompeii's name swept the Western world and its art and architecture had a profound effect on European and American culture." "A "Pompeii fever" compelled painters and sculptors throughout Europe to make pilgrimages here." "Neoclassicism was fueled as a major art from and remained the standard for the 18th and 19th centuries." "Pompeiians depicted the wine god Bacchus clothed in grapes, as was the fertile Vesuvius itself." "With no record of eruption in living memory, they saw it as merely a mountain, beautiful and benign." "On that fateful August day in 79 A. D." "thousands fled the city at the mountain's outburst." "For those who tarried, the end was sudden and violent a painful, choking death from asphyxiation by gases and ash." "Their bodies were packed in the dry ash, which hardened over the years into hollow outlines of the dead." "When the forms were discovered in the 1860s, plaster was injected into them," "Creating these faithful images of the victims at their very moment of death." "Eight miles northwest of Pompeii is the modern-day town of Ercolano." "It is built atop a buried ancient town Herculaneum, which was silenced in the same eruption as Pompeii." "The earliest part of Herculaneum to be discovered still remains hidden underground because occupied homes and stores lie above it." "All traces of Herculaneum had been lost until 1709." "Even writings about the once elegant town had disappeared or been destroyed" "The rebirth of Herculaneum began with its accidental discovery by a well digger." "Searching for water, he struck instead what turned out to be a Roman theater." "Later, excavators knew they had found ancient Herculaneum when they uncovered marble inscribed with its name in Latin." "In one of the dark tunnels a haunting image from the past an impression left in the volcanic debris by a statue toppled from its pedestal." "Magnificent treasures were uncovered, and when word of them spread, the ruling nobility of Naples recklessly looted the theater." "Tunnels were ordered dug and searched." "And a massive hole was cut to haul out the exquisite marble and priceless bronze statues." "Then, except for sporadic digging," "Herculaneum was all but forgotten once again." "More than 100 years later excavating begins in earnest when the Fascist government allocates large sums to preserve Roman antiquities." "Ton after ton of volcanic debris is hauled away." "Only then does the ancient town begin to emerge." "Pompeii had been relatively easy to excavate;" "yet here at Herculaneum workers struggle through 40 to 60 feet of material as hard as cement." "Why this difference?" "Scientists puzzle" "Why was Pompeii covered by gravel and ash and Herculaneum by a rock-solid deposit when the two towns were buried in the same eruption?" "Unlike the commercial center of Pompeii," "Herculaneum was a residential and resort town." "Built on a low bluff overlooking the sea, it housed between four and five thousand wealthy retired citizens artisans, and fishermen." "The most notable gathering places in Herculaneum were the bath houses." "Heated by fires and tended by slaves, the baths drew residents almost daily." "With separate sections for women and men, the baths were a place to relax, socialize, and conduct business." "Now, bases on record from the past, with the help of an artist's hand," "Herculaneum is magically recaptured as it was in the glorious days of the Roman Empire." "They left us image magnificently cast in bronze, but where were the people themselves?" "Few human remains had ever been found, and scholars concluded that surely the people of Herculaneum had successfully escaped." "The extraordinary number of everyday objects provides an intimate look at Roman life." "A cloth press in a cleaner's shop." "The remains of a bed." "A baby's charred cradle." "A charred doll." "Magnificent jewelry, hand-hammered from the purest of gold." "And costume jewelry of beads, stones, and amber." "and perhaps most astounding of all food set on the table:" "walnuts, freshly baked bread, eggs, and figs preserved for nearly 2,000 years." "In 1980, more than 270 years after the initial discovery of Herculaneum, a skeleton was uncovered on the site of the ancient beach front." "Then three more were found there, igniting the archaeological community." "The arched chambers facing the beach had never been excavated." "Now they cried out for attention." "Yet no one was prepared for the landmark discovery that would destroy scientific theory on Herculaneum's final hours." "Many Herculaneans had not escaped." "Huddled together in the dark recesses of the chambers, scores were overtaken by Vesuvius's indiscriminate rampage." "Perhaps members of the same family, one group died locked in embrace." "Some of the victims were found wearing valuables gold and shining gems." "Others, no doubt certain they would escape, gathered their treasure troves and carried them as they fled." "Today, the cataclysm that brought instant death has become an unparalleled legacy for modern scientists." "Analysis of the bone may answer some of history's riddles about Roman culture and daily life." "Physical anthropologist Dr. Sara Bisel has spent her career analyzing human bones, but this opportunity is unique." "The reason why the Herculaneum population is so important is that it may well be the only one we ever have from the Roman period in Italy because Roman burials were cremations and so aren't studiable." "And we've had artifacts before, we've had architectural remains, we've had literature, but this is the first time we've had real people." "I find it very moving." "Working with chief excavator Ciro Formicola," "Bisel uncovers treasures locked in the earth for nearly 2,000 years." "A magnificent bracelet is found alongside a woman's remains." "No doubt a person of wealth, she was found with much gold jewelry." "I think she must have had them in her purse since her arm is off in another direction." "Oh, this one has a little chain." "Her earrings, meant for pierced ears, were probably decorated with pearls." "And as she ran, she carried a bronze oil lamp futile protection against the dark." "I take them out of the ground because they talk to me then." "They don't talk to me as much in the ground as they do to other people." "But when I get them out, then they tell me what they did all their lives and what they did every day." "And they say whether they are male or female, their ages, what kind of work they did, whether they were abused when they were alive, what sort of nutrition they had, if they were sick." "Well, I can't see all the illnesses, but some of them." "They can tell me that." "Women can tell me how many babies they had." "They can't tell me whether they were happy or not." "This is noteworthy." "From a pelvic bone Bisel is able to tell the woman's approximate age and how many babies she had." "Twenty-seven years;" "two or three children." "She was roughly 27 years old and had two or three babies." "From that little bone, all that news." "In all, Bisel will analyze some 25,000 bones." "It is a monumental task." "After the bones are cleaned, dried, and dipped in an acrylic-resin solution to harden them," "Bisel begins the process of sorting and reconstruction." "In general I think they are pretty healthy." "I haven't seen some of the gross diseases that I might see." "Some of the people who, I presume, were slaves show signs of working very very hard and they're of course not nearly so healthy as some of the other people." "Ancient people have beautiful teeth, even at ages of 35, 40, 45." "They have very few cavities and very few abcesses and all the teeth just line up like piano keys." "With her trained eye, Bisel is able to unravel a tantalizing mystery about two people found lying together in one of the chambers." "This baby was in the first chamber that we excavated in the back part." "And actually before we started taking people out, all you could see was the top of the little head, and it was being held in the arms of a young girl." "So we didn't know we knew it was a baby but we didn't know too much about it." "The men that were working with me all said," "This is the baby and its mother and everything." "And I looked at the skeleton of the girl holding it and it was a prepubertal girl." "So I know it wasn't the mother." "So then they all said it must be the sister, but I'll show you that I really don't think it was." "This baby was the baby of a rich family because it had jewelry on it." "And I don't really think a child that's from a poor family would have jewelry." "Now here's the girl that was holding her." "And I'll show you why I don't think she was the sister." "Sort of a nice-looking person, isn't she?" "Nice regular features." "But if you look really closely here at these teeth, you can see the line, a really deep line, and the same here on the first molar." "Now this deep indentation into the enamel shows that when the tooth was forming, she just simply wasn't getting anything to eat." "That in itself does not point to a girl of a rich family." "This is even more telling the humerus." "You see these places here the attachment for the muscles here on the humerus that's the arm bone the attachment for the muscle here shows severe pulling of that muscle, which would really only happen in someone who was lifting things" "that were far too heavy for her to lift." "And no daughter of a rich family would have to work like that." "So I think she was a slave." "So you see that there really was a cross section of people found on that beach." "It wasn't just poor people;" "there were rich people." "You remember the lady with the gold bracelets." "So everybody was down there that didn't escape." "And they were all there together, and they all died together." "But the central mystery remains:" "why had they fled to the beach?" "By studying various levels of volcanic debris," "Dr. Haraldur Sigurdsson of the University of Rhode Island pieces together Herculaneum's final hours." "The eruption of Vesuvius occurred in two phases." "The first phase lasted for about 18 hours and resulted in ash fall over a wide area." "During that phase the wind was blowing from the north however, so that Herculaneum was spared most of the ash and here only about two inches of ash fell during the first 18 hours of activity." "Therefore, the population of Herculaneum was relatively unaware of the potential dangers for the city." "And so, many Herculaneans stayed." "But their good fortune did not last." "Sigurdsson finds evidence of a violent change of events that did not occur until many hours after the ash fall began." "These layers contain important lines of evidence." "First of all, carbonized wood, or charcoal, indicating temperatures of two to three hundred degrees Centigrade, as well as bricks and all their building materials, which indicate high force, perhaps of the order of one to two hundred kilometers per hour." "These layers, therefore, in our interpretation represent surges" "Now surges are the most deadly phases of volcanic eruptions." "One phase of the Mount St. Helens' eruption in 1980 was a surge." "Unlike slowly advancing lava flows," "Surges explode with the force and fury of a nuclear bomb blast." "Compared to Mount St. Helens, the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 A. D. was ten times more powerful." "For 12 hours Vesuvius hurled into the sky a column of pumice and ash, at times as high as 20 miles." "When the column collapsed, it created a surge superheated avalanche that blasted through Herculaneum, killing its residents." "Immediately after the surge a slower-moving river of debris, called a pyroclastic flow, entombed and preserved them." "Of the five surges that followed, three reached Pompeii, but by now most people there had already fled." "Herculaneans were not as fortunate." "In the ruins of one of Herculaneum's bath houses the enormity of the mountain's fury is clear." "This heavy marble bowl was sitting here by the window before the eruption" "But when the surge blasted through the window, it picked up the bowl and the force of the surge threw it across the room where it left this impression in the volcanic deposit." "If you look closely, you'll see the impressions which were left by window glass thrown into the bowl when the surge blasted through the window." "As midnight approached, none could comprehend that their world would be snuffed out in one horrifying blow." "With the surge bearing down on their town at more than 60 miles an hour, the Herculaneans had less than five minutes to flee to the beach, no doubt hoping to escape by sea." "When escape became impossible, they ran into the chambers." "Scorched by the searing heat of the surge, they suffocated as the gases tore at their lungs." "Pyroclastic flows that followed sealed them where they lay frozen for nearly two millennia in the tortured postures of their final moments on this earth." "To date excavations along the ancient beach front have exposed ten chambers." "But Herculaneum is less than half excavated." "It seems certain other chambers, with other dead, remain hidden in the volcanic debris." "Because parts of Herculaneum lie buried below the homes and shops of Ercolano, they may never see the light of day, never reveal their ancient secrets to the modern world." "seven miles west of Naples is Pozzuoli the largest town in a region known as the Fiery Fields." "The entire region is a caldera formed about 35,000 years ago by a massive eruption." "The Fiery Fields are dotted with some two dozen vents of smaller volcanoes." "The only one still active is on the outskirts of Pozzouli itself." "It is called La Solfatara sulfur earth" "Unable to explain the costant steam and bubbling mud, the ancients thought surely this was an entrance to the underworld." "In more recent times Solfatara was reputedly a source of inspiration for Dante's "Inferno"." "Throughout its history Solfatara has drawn the attention of layman and scientist alike." "In the beginning it was pressure and steam and we cannot enter the area because it is dangerous because there is a corrosion by the steam of the crater." "So there is the possibility of collapse of the ground." "Today, scientists stand behind a wire fence, protected against ground collapse." "Seventy years ago they were able to work in this observatory right on the crater's floor." "Just beyond the trees at the edge of the crater one is not prepared for the unlikely sight of campers." "Here, for a few thousand line, a few American dollars, tourists from many countries come to vacation." "This unusual piece of real estate has been owned by the De Luca family for more than 100 years." "Eugenio de Luca." "Not so many people used to come here to see the volcano because they were afraid." "Now they come again." "But we, me personally, we have never been afraid." "I was sure, we were sure that nothing would happen." "I mean nothing volcanic, you know." "Tourists continue to come with fascination and awe, and no doubt a bit of daring." "But just beyond the ridge, thousands of people harbor only deep concern." "The uneasy of Pozzuoli live and work with Solfatara as a permanent neighbor" "Pozzuoli is a working-class fishing town." "Two thousand years ago, like Herculaneum and Ischia, it was a favorite holiday resort of Italian aristocracy." "In its heyday it was also one of the principal trading centers of the Roman Empire." "Now as then, hawkers pitch their wares" "They go about their business, but buyers and sellers alike are keenly aware of another potential danger this one under their feet." "Throughout recorded history Pozzuoli has been plagued by earthquakes triggered by the rise and fall of magma lying beneath the town." "As the magma has risen and fallen, so has the town." "As the ancient Roman marketplace the columns of the Temple of Serapis were above water level when the market was built 2,000 years ago." "Now they are marked with the burrows of marine mollusks, evidence that over the centuries Serapis has been periodically submerged" "As recently as 1976 it was largely flooded." "One period of startling uplift occurred in the early 1970s when the ground rose five-and-half feet in only three years." "Boats that once anchored alongside their docks must now be reached by ladder." "Were Pozzuoli not situated near water, the uplift would be more difficult to see." "In fact, it was fishermen who first noticed it, as well as the bubbles boiling up from steam vents on the sea floor." "If too much pressure builds, the threat is an explosion like the one that formed this mountain in 1538." "Preceded by a series of earthquakes, the eruption raised the earth more than 400 feet in just three days." "On October 4, 1983, after months of daily tremors, a four-point earthquake wracked Pozzuoli." "The older buildings fared the worst." "Already weakened by a period of renewed volcanic uplift, many, like this church, all but crumbled into ruin." "No one can say how many houses were damaged, but at least half the population moved out some in fear, others at government order." "With their economy collapsed and schools closed, an estimated 35,000 people were relocated to hotels and temporary camps hastily set up by the government." "A population already severely stressed by a year of continuous tremors was now uprooted from the only home most had ever known." "In 1985 the volcanic uplift mysteriously stopped and people began to return to Pozzuoli" "Some businesses, their buildings destroyed or deemed unsafe, set up temporary shops in the town's main park." "Scientists can neither explain the calm nor guarantee future safety." "Many residents still live elsewhere, returning to the town only by day." "For fishermen, the best catch is just after dawn." "So Raffaele Bucciero, and many others like him, must sleep in Pozzuoli or lose their livelihoods." "Working with his son Vincenzo every day but Sunday, he hauls in their mile-long net." "The bountiful water are famous for their shellfish, octopus, and squid." "Vincenzo has a full-time factory job during the day and has no desire to become a fisherman" "But he knows his father needs help with the physically demanding work." "Vincenzo has his own family now, but his ties to his parents remain strong." "Raffaele's wife works perhaps hardest of all to keep family ties intact, traveling daily to Pozzuoli by bus from where she now lives." "Annunziata Bucciero is too frightened to stay in the damaged apartment the family once shared." "Major efforts are underway to reinforce damages buildings by injecting new cement into them." "But for many people, the chaos and devastation keeps their fear of the quake palpably real." "Pozzuoli may be Mrs. Bucciero's birthplace and home, but surrounded by the rubble, she is simply too terrified to spend even one night." "To retain some semblance of the family's former life," "Mrs. Bucciero has made a ritual of the midday meal." "For two long years, since their apartment was judged unsafe, the routine has seldom varied." "They are fortunate to have inherited from her mother a small ground-level storage room where the family can gather." "Making do with a portable gas stove, she takes immense pride in being able to provide for her family as she has for more than 35 years." ""I was happy," she says." ""All I cared about was having my family around me." "But the earthquake divided us."" "In a few years retirement is the goal of Raffaele Bucciero, now 61." "Until that time his life remains tied to the rhythm of the sea." "He says:" "We have this cross to bear, my wife and I." "Our children are scattered all over." "We can't all be together, so we fixed up this little room." "My wife and I sacrifice." "I fish and she comes and cooks and cleans." "At one o'clock the family is united, the number of people varying from day to day." "With their parents today are one daughter and one son and their respective fiances." "It is a time to talk and laugh, to eat and drink, and to reenter each other's world" "A time to pretend their family has not been torn apart and that in one short hour they won't again be forced to go their separate ways." "Before nightfall descends on Pozzuoli, jitneys crowd the marketplace to transport home those like Mrs. Bucciero who live a distance away." "My family is everything to me, she says." "Alone late at night, I sometimes cry." "After dark Pozzuoli becomes a veritable ghost town." "His net set out for the night," "Raffaele eats the evening meal his wife has left behind." "It's very hard, he says." "At my age where would I go?" "Pozzuoli has always been our home." "Home or not, many residents have been forced by authorities to leave." "About four miles northwest of Pozzuoli in a presumably safe zone, the government is building a new town for 20,000 people." "Acclaiming it the "new Pozzuoli", officials hope it will develop a vital social and economic life." "But many residents are doubtful." "Isolated from friends and loved ones, they stay only because there's nowhere else to go." "Perhaps none are more deeply affected by Pozzuoli's problems than some elderly who are separated from their families and their town." ""During the quake", she says, the walls were going like this," "and I called out to Jesus." "the ceiling was shaking and the smell of cracking plaster was everywhere." "It is a trauma for me when I think of when I used to live in Pozzuoli, and it hurts to see it so deserted and convulsed." "I miss everything in Pozzuoli, everything." "It is my home." "Generations have been shaken by fear." "A new generation waits and wonders when the quakes will strike again." "Until now the Fiery Fields' volcanic uplife has only been monitored on land" "But the Gulf of Pozzuoli is also part of the ancient caldera." "Prof. Lorenzo Mirabile believes a true picture of the phenomenon will only emerge by including a study of the sea floor." "His team of scientists from Naples' Institute of Oceanography will place instruments at four locations on the bottom of the gulf." "Surface buoys will mark their location" "The instruments will indicate any uplift of the sea floor by measuring the changes in the height of the water between the bottom and the surface." "They will also monitor water temperature and seismic activity, taking into account such variables as currents, tides, and storms." "Solar-powered radio transmitters relay the data to a centralized computer." "The signals from the gulf are received at five-minute intervals, 24 hours a day." "But Mirabile believes it will take at least a year to accumulate enough data to even determine what is critical uplift and what is not." "Then, he hopes, the information, in combination with the findings of geologists and volcanologists, can be used to develop an early warning system to alert Pozzuoli before disaster strikes." "The Fiery Fields are home to 200,000 people; grater Naples, to two million." "The evacuation of such numbers poses astronomical problems." "Yet, without doubt, Vesuvius is still active;" "it will erupt again." "The most recent eruption, in 1944, was filmed by the Allied troops that had recently liberated war-torn Naples" "Relentlessly for three days the lava rolled over farmlands and vineyards, moving ever close to the town of San Sebastiano." "Lying just three miles below Vesuvius's central crater," "San Sebastiano has historically been an easy target." "Nearly every generation living here since the early 19th century has seen their town destroyed." "Even their patron saint seemed helpless against the onslaught." "Miraculously, only two people died, but two thirds of the buildings were totally destroyed." "Most of the population was homeless." "Two hundred yards wide, the solidified lava flow remains today as a vivid reminder of San Sebastiano's perilous hours." "One man remember well." "Nineteen at the time of the eruption," "Raffaele Capasso would go on to become mayor of San Sebastiano, a position he has held for 31 years." "For his the-year-old niece he recalls the events of 1944 as the lave advanced and inundated the town." "Could it erupt again?" "She asks." "Yes, he replies." "The volcano has been sleeping now for 42 years." "We've never seen it sleep that long before." "But, he goes on, we must rely on scientists to alert us in time." "Under Mayor Capasso's leadership," "San Sebastiano today is a thriving, bustling town." "As a young man, it was he who urged the townspeople not to abandon their city, but to rebuild." "And rebuild they did right on top of the lava." "What might be an ominous reminder of past horrors stands as unofficial monument to a people's tenacity and pride." "Mayor Capasso, often quoted as saying," ""The power of man in greater than the power of the volcano", has turned San Sebastiano into a showcase city." "Before the eruption some 4,000 people lived here." "Today, that figure has more than doubled." "And San Sebastiano is but one of 14 towns that crowd the slopes of Vesuvius." "Twice every year, those living in Vesuvius's shadow throng to Naples' cathedral, the Duomo, in anticipation of an ages-old ritual the miracle of San Gennaro, their patron saint." "San Gennaro, martyred in 305 A. D., is said to have saved the region from famines, plagues, and cholera." "But perhaps most importantly, he is its protector against the might of Vesuvius." "A small amount of his dried blood is stored in the Duomo." "The faithful believe it must turn to liquid today to ensure Naples' safety from Vesuvius for another year." "Occasionally, the miracle has not occurred for instance in 1979." "Then in 1980 the region suffered a devastating earthquake from which it is still recovering." "Nearly 3,000 died." "A hundred thousand were homeless." "The miracle has happened." "Vesuvius, the devout believe, will not harm them for another year." "They offer prayers of thanks." "This land holds their roots;" "it is their beloved home." "And once again San Gennaro has assured them it is safe." "With renewed faith on this bright and hopeful day, it is a time to reflect, to look to the future, and to celebrate." "Yet even as they rejoice, the faces of the present hauntingly evoke the faces of the past." "The faces of the living are reflected in the faces of the dead." "In 1632 the Viceroy of Naples warned:" "Children and children's children." "Hear" "I warn you now." "Sooner or later this mountain takes fire." "Flee so long as you can." "And yet people still return to the slopes of the mountain, even to build new town farther up its broad and fertile flanks." "In years to come, scientists will continue to be drawn to the towns of Vesuvius to probe more deeply the mysteries of the past, to ponder the fate of those whose lives were lost." "Perhaps today the power of man has become greater than the volcano." "Perhaps science does hold hope for a future when Nature can at last be tamed." "Ultimately, perhaps, it may be the indomitable human spirit that will prevail." "Those in the shadow of Vesuvius have been called courageous by some, foolhardy by others." "The judgment is history's to decide." "For now only this is sure:" "if holocaust is only dimly feared, its specter nevertheless remains." "Long after the sun has disappeared from the sky, a mountain's shadow continues to fall." "In Washington, D.C." "the Trustees of the National Geographic Society gatherto have a formal portrait taken." "The picture will help commemorate the Society's Centennial." "In 1988 Geographic completes one hundred years of exploration, research, and education." "Everybody looking right at the lens." "Ready?" "All right." "Okay." "Fine." "Right here." "Nice big smile now." "Come on." "Here, in 1913, a similar photograph was taken." "Back then, the highest mountain had yet to be climbed, and no one knew the ocean deep, or what fire illuminates the stars." "All this lay in the future the greatest adventure mankind has ever known." "The explorers have left monuments all over the world." "One of the most meaningful, and at the same time little-known, is to be found high on a hilltop in Nova Scotia." "Here, alone with the sigh of the wind, are the graves of Alexander Graham Bell and his wife, Mabel." "Bell called their estate here Beinn Bhreagh, or "beautiful mountain"" "In the late 1800s Bell spent much of his time promoting the National Geographic Society." "It was the favorite preoccupations of a man whose boundless creativity changed everyone's life forever." "Inventing the telephone made Bell's fortune." "It also freed him to pursue his many interests and enjoy his growing family." "Enthusiastic, generous, and warmhearted," "Bell became a grandfather figure to the world." "When young Gilbert Hovey Grosvenor caught the eye of Bell's elder daughter, Elsie," "Bell offered him a job in Washington." "The couple was married in 1900." "They set up housekeeping not far from Grosvenor's office at 15th Street and Pennsylvania Avenue" "It was an exciting time to be alive." "Americans were thrilled by modern innovations and their growing political power." "Grosvenor became the first full-time employee of National Geographic," "Which was kept going mainly /be Bell's contributions." "In a tiny office sometimes piled high with unsold Magazines," "Grosvenor worked to realize Bell's hope that Geographic's journal could somehow pay the Society's way." "From its first issue the Magazine had been a liability." "It had been called "suitable for diffusing geographic knowledge among those who already had it, /and scaring off the rest"." "It often featured day, scholarly articles not meant for the general public." "But there were also pictures photographs of far-away people and places that stirred the imagination." "When be became Managing Editor in 1900" "Grosvenor started publishing more photographs, selected according to one of his favorite maxims:" ""The mind must see before it can believe"." "A famous Geographic tradition began in 1896 with this picture." "Grosvenor stoutly defended the policy of showing people dressed, or undressed, according to the customs in their land" "At the turn of the century the eye of the camera was capable of wondrous revelations." "In 1906 an entire issue of National Geographic was devoted to portraits of animals taken in the wild." "Photographer George Shiras sneaked up on his subjects at night with a camera and explosive flash powder." "His pictures astonished the world." "With a later technique Shiras startled animals with a blank gun shot and then captured them an instant later in ghostly flight." "Geographic and its Magazine soon prospered and more innovations followed" "Even before true color photography was practical, colored pictures were published by hand tinting black-and-white prints according to notes the photographer had made in the field." "Purists found these pictures artificial but readers loved them just the same." "From the beginning the most popular Geographic authors were explorers." "The Magazine made history in 1909 when it published Robert Peary's account of discovering the North Pole." "Peary once wrote:" "I shall not be satisfied that I have done my best until name is known from one end of the world to the other." "Peary's closest associate was the pioneering black explorer Mattew Henson." "In 1908 he and Peary set out together on their fourth polar expedition." "On March 1, 1909." "Peary set off for the pole." "According to plan, the rest of the party turned back as supplies ran down." "After a month only Peary, Henson, and four Eskimos were left to press on with the dogs." "Peary's account of the next few days remains controversial." "He reported good weather and excellent progress." "Later, some thought his story too good to be true." "In any event," "Peary reported he reached the pole on April 6, 1909." "Peary wrote in his diary:" ""The Pole at last!" "Linking hands with Roald Amundsen who reached the South Pole two years later," "Robert Peary found the fame he had sought so long." "In 1913 he and Amundsen met for the first time when being honored by the National Geographic." "Hardly less pleased were Dr. Bell and his son-in-law Gilbert Grosvenor." "National Geographic was a going concern and Bell was delighted to have it all in the family." "Grosvenor's decorum veiled his daring and ambition." "He took quite literally Bell's expansive admonition that" ""the world and all that is in it is our theme"." "Some four years after the sensation over Peary, another explorer became a household name." "Hiram Bingham was a professor of Latin American history at Yale." "In search of a fabled lost city, he traveled to Peru." "So he found Machu Picchu," "Abandoned by the Incas 450 years ago," "The first National Geographic archaeological grant was made to help clear and map the colossal ruins." "It took more than $20,000 and months of labor to reveal them all." "In 1917 one of the first National Geographic expeditions to be documented in motion pictures explored a rare freak of nature the Valley of Ten Thousand Smokes in Alaska." "This bizarre landscape was the aftermath of a gigantic volcanic explosion several years before." "In this nightmare world, superheated steam hissed from millions of vents and often, it seemed, the ground itself was alive" "Scientists attempted to explore the larger fissures, but barely escaped being boiled alive." "More than half a million members now shared in the exploration of such natural wonders." "And the home of Alexander Graham Bell had become the unofficial summer headquarter of the National Geographic" "On holidays the hard-pressed Grosvenor set up his office in a tent on the lawn of Beinn Bhreagh." "On these visits the Grosvenor children enchanted their legendary Grandfather Bell." "The great inventor was over 60, but still a bold explorer." "He astonished and sometimes alarmed his Nova Scotia neighbors with his odd inventions." "Giant kites made up of tetrahedral cells were Bell's obsession." "They taught him much about aeronautics and some were large enough to life a man." "Bell's avid interest in aviation culminated in 1909 with the first flight in Canada by a powered airplane." "One of Bell's last experiments was a hydrofoil speedboat called the HD-4." "It worked perfectly." "It went 71 miles an hour for years the fastest thing on water." "World War I was over." "And people who had fought to save the world for democracy were more curious about the world than ever." "Six-hundred-and-fifty-six thousand of them had joined National Geographic and received its Magazine, the pride of 400 employees." "Society headquarters was Hubbard Hall, named for Gardiner Greene Hubbard," "Bell's father-in-law and the Society's first president." "Geographic's Magazine combined education and adventure in the form of first-person reports from explorers in the field." "Some of the most colorful accounts came from a botanist, Joseph Rock." "Daring, arrogant, and difficult," "Rock had a talent for getting into trouble and living to tell the tale." "On his travels in China and Tibet." "He was often menaced by bandits and warlords." "Roch always escaped them and sometimes even got their pictures for the Magazine." "One of Rock's classic articles told of his visit to the tiny kingdom of Muli." "Deep in the mountains of Szechuan," "Muli was ruled by a king who had the power of life or death over his 22,000 subjects." "Like Shangri-la, Muli knew little of the outside world." "Rock was told he was the first American ever to come here." "Summoning Rock to his place, the King of Muli politely asked the explorer if the could ride horseback to Washington." "He treated Rock kindly, offering him delicacies like ancient yak cheese and mutton crawling with maggots." "By the 1920s the unexplored parts of the world were rapidly shrinking." "But man's past was like a hidden continent." "And in 1922 the entrance to a royal Egyptian tomb was found." "Archaeologist Howard Carter and his sponsor, Lord Carnarvon," "Announced they would open the burial chamber officially on February 18, 1923" ""Can you see anything?" Lord Carnarvon had asked Carter when he first looked inside the tomb three months earlier." ""Yes", Carter had replied." ""I see wonderful things"." "It was the tomb of Tutahkhamun." "Nothing like it had been found before or since a time capsule 3300 years old." "By the end of the 1920s," "National Geographic was prepared to sponsor major expeditions." "It subscribed $50,000 toward Richard Byrd's attempt to fly to the South Pole." "Byrd's ship left New Zealand in December 1928, still summer in the Antarctic." "According to Byrd's elaborate plan, the party would land in Antarctica and dig in for the winter." "When weather improved in the spring, he'd attempt the 800mile flight to the pole over largely unknown territory." "An advance party prepared to travel overland more than halfway to the pole" "They would make geological studies and stand by to rescue Byrd if his plane was forced down." "The expedition not only survived the winter, it prospered." "There were nearly 100 dogs when the sun set in April." "By August there were many more." "The six men in the Geological Party departed." "They would be gone almost three months" "Byrd planned to drop an American flag to mark the spot when he reached the pole." "On November 28, 1929, a full year after leaving New Zealand, Byrd decided to go." "A film camera went along and months later audiences in Washington would see this movie of Byrd's adventure." "There they are at the South Pole." "The observations click." "It is 1:25 in the morning of November 29th, 1929." "Dick takes out the flag, weighted with a stone from Floyd Bennett's grave." "It is the symbol and the monument of a supreme accomplishment." "Through the trap door the flag and stone drop together." "There they go down, down forever at the very bottom of the world." "A nation plunging into the Great Depression still gave Richard Byrd a glorious welcome home." "He received his second National Geographic modal at the White house from President Herbert Hoover." "Your contribution to exploration and scientific research has done honor to this country." "Your daring and courage have thrilled each one of us individually because they have proved anew the worth and the glory of the qualities which we believe are latent in the American people." "Africa long regarded as the Dark Continent and the natural habitat of the great explorer." "Leading huge safaris deep into the bush," "Martin Johnson typified a new breed of showman-explorer." "His wife, Osa, was equally famous and equally skilled with guns and their many cameras." "Together the Johnson made a series of films that brought both the realities and the cliches of African adventure vividly to life on the screen." "Scenes of African wildlife thrilled standing-room-only audiences at the Johnson's early films and lectures." "Technology, it seemed, made anything possible." "Pioneering scientists like William Beebe were going where no one had ever been before." "Off Bermuda Beebe tried out his so-called bathysphere, lowering the two-ton steel ball-to a depth of 3,000 feet." "On one test dive the unoccupied sphere sprang a leak." "Water was trapped inside at deep-sea pressure." "Releasing it showed what could happen to a person trapped inside." "Unperturbed, Beebe and his companion, Otis Barton, made repairs and then committed themselves to fate." "Bolted in, dangling on the end of a steel cable less than an inch in diameter, they would be helpless if anything went wrong." "Descending past 2,000 feet," "Beebe peered out into the eternal darkness and glimpsed creatures no one had ever seen before." "Painted by an artist working from Beebe's descriptions, these were like creatures from another planet, alien and bizarre." "Another ocean lay above." "Earth's great canopy of air challenged the explorers." "In 1934,with a hydrogen-filled balloon" "National Geographic and the U.S. Army Air Corps joined forces to probe the stratosphere." "A launch site was readied near Rapid City, South Dakota." "The balloon was launched on July 28, 1934." "It carried three Air Corps officers and was called Explorer." "All went well as Explorer soared above 60,000 feet." "Then, the three men in the gondola heard ominous sounds and, seconds later, realized that the balloon was tearing open." "Fearing the thin air and cold at high altitude, the balloonists dared not use their parachutes until the last moment." "They escaped just in time." "Explorer shattered on impact." "Almost immediately it was decided to try again." "A second balloon, Explorer I I, was constructed." "The largest balloon in the world, it would stand more than 300 feet high when fully inflated." "In November 1935 Explorer I I soared into the stratosphere, reaching nearly 14 miles, a new world record." "After eight hours aloft, the balloon touched down in a farmer's pasture." "Casual heroes, wearing helmets borrowed from a local high-school football team" "The crew basked in the admiration of a crowd that appeared out of nowhere on the plains of South Dakota." "When World War I I began," "Washington changed forever as it became a wartime boom town." "But the National Geographic remained much the same." "The Magazine had become a fixture in school libraries and doctor's offices." "Society members wrote to editors as if they were old friends." "And almost all collected the Magazine because they couldn't bear to throw it away." "Techniques of color reproduction were by now far advanced." "And no one published more or finer color photographs than National Geographic." "There could only be one subject for the first color cover, published the war." "But not until 1959 did a picture on the cover become a regular feature." "Wherever war did not reach, explorers carried on." "A number of expeditions to Mexico, led by Dr. Matthew Stirling, revealed a mysterious pre-Columbian culture called the Olmec." "A series of dramatic discoveries included the excavation of a gigantic stone head weighing 25 tons." "The work pushed the existence of pre-Columbian civilization in America further into antiquity and carried on a Geographic tradition of leadership in New World archaeology." "The war had barely ended when, on the coast of France, a new species of man appeared." "Led by Jacques-Yves Cousteau, these creatures, awkward on land, were originally called "fish men"." "Co-inventor of the Aqua-Lung Cousteau revolutionized undersea exploration." "National Geographic photographer Luis Marden eagerly followed Cousteau into a dazzling new world." "Cousteau once remarked:" "when we are invited to live on this earth." "There is no reason we should not visit the basement." "But unlike some explorers before him, Cousteau sought not to conquer but to cherish the creatures of the sea." "By the 1950s there were few places on earth that did not bear the mark of man." "One of them was the summit of Mount Everest, 29,028 feet high, the last great prize of the classic explorer." "An era came to an end with this National Geographic article and when President Dwight Eisenhower gave the Society's Hubbard Medal to the British Everest Expedition leader," "Sir John Hunt, and climber Sir Edmund Hillary." "But there would be new adventures and new ways to share them." "The first National Geographic TV Special documented the" "American expedition to Everest, led by Norman Dyhrenfurth." "The climbing team of 19 Americans and 32 Nepaless Sherpas made the attempt." "And, on television, tens of millions would later share the adventure." "And on the morning of May 1 st, the peak is boiling in its plume of snow." "Those below were sure that there would be no summit attempt that day." "But they were wrong." "Big Jim and Gombu decide to make their try, and for hour after hour inch up the battlements of the Southeast Ridge." "For a while Norman Dyhrenfurth and Ang Dawa climb after them." "But the cold is too bitter, the wind too fierce." "Filmmaking is all but impossible." "At last Norman and Ang Dawa turn back." "Jim and Gombu go on alone." "At last..." "They are there on top of the world." "Jim Whittaker and Nawang Gombu." "At one o'clock on the afternoon of May first, whittaker planted the American flag on the summit, and with it the flag of the National Geographic Society." "These are the first moving pictures ever taken from the summit of Everest." "Some one-and-a-half million photographs more than forty thousand rolls of film are turned in here in Washington each year." "It's a staggering task merely to catalog and store them." "All the elements are there." "Nice lady with her family." "The world, and all that is in it that was Alexander Graham Bell's modest description of the Society's mission." "So editors, writers, and researchers try valiantly to do the impossible in books and other publications, maps and films as well as the 12 annual issues of the Magazine." "A typical mind-boggling Geographic statistic:" "the press run of one Magazine issue would make a stack 53 miles high." "The original vision of Gilbert Grosvenor had been far exceeded by the time of his death in 1966." "Leadership has passed to his son, Melville Bell Grosvenor," "Editor of the Magazine for ten brilliant years." "Now Gilbert M. Grosvenor is President of the Society, continuing family traditions that have taken him all over the world, and even to the North Pole." "I think it all started when my grandfather flew over the North Pole." "And this was, I guess, in about maybe the 50s early 50s because I was still in college." "And he sent us a little postcard." "It had the North Pole and it had the lines of longitude and latitude and where they all met." "And he signed it and said, I flew over the footsteps of Robert E." "And then my father he flew over the North Pole, and he did the same thing." "He sent me a postcard." "And I was kind of getting tired of this." "Gilbert Grosvenor's visit the pole had a new twist." "Accompanied by underwater photographer Al Giddings and Canadian explorer Joe Maclnnis, he would join the select few who have ventured under the ice at 90 ° North." "Under six feet of ice, in 29 ° water, human life hangs by the slenderest of threads." "As fragile as the flame of a single candle, the human spirit trembles here," "Even as it did in the time of Peary." "Have you ever?" "Have you ever?" "Seventy years ago this flag came to the North Pole with Robert E. Peary." "Terrific." "And it's a great pleasure to bring it back." "We say we have explored the earth." "But there are still regions almost as remote as the surface of the moon." "Most dramatically, seven-tenths of the earth'surface is covered with water, and we have only a hazy idea of what is hidden beneath the waves." "You ready for me?" "This is "Project Beebe", a pioneering study of life in the deep ocean." "The remarkable Dr. Eugenie Clark," "University of Maryland zoologist and shark expert, is the principal scientist." "I don't know about that laser the laser-sighted Canon on the front." "The project is the brainchild of Emory Kristof," "A National Geographic photographer who is an expert on deep-sea exploration and photography." "Aboard the research submersible Pisces Vl," "Dr. Clark will descend several thousand feet to the ocean floor and remain there up to 12 hours." "She'll use the submersible as a deep-sea observation post, attracting marine animals with bait." "Here off Bermuda, William Beebe made his epic dives 50 years ago." "And the curiosity that drove him now inspires Dr. Clark." "Never though I'd be doing this." "You know, as a child, I worshipped Beebe and read all his books and wanted to go down in the bathysphere the way he did." "Never really though I'd do it, but I wanted to." "This one is huge." "This one is big." "Oh, my gosh!" "Within minutes deep-sea sharks appear." "Up to 20 feet long, these sixgill sharks have only rarely been seen alive." "Yeah, it really is exciting." "Wow!" "You ought to see the size of this one." "We've got the biggest one so far." "He's right outside the window now." "It will take generations to fully explore this mysterious deep frontier." "And no one can say what strange creatures we may someday discover here." "Off the Mediterranean coast of Turkey," "National Geographic has helped explore an ancient ship that was wrecked here 3,400 years ago." "Now a word about what we're doing today." "We're working in the upper part of the wreck and finding it just thick with amphoras and ingots and so forth." "And so I want you to just to hand-fan down..." "George Bass is from Texas A  M University." "One of the world's leading nautical archaeologists," "He has been completely absorbed by a small plot of seabed 50 yards from shore and some 150 feet down." "Slowly, the evidence mounts up." "Bass and his team have gained unprecedented knowledge of such an ancient ship." "It was about 50 feet long and carried goods of at least seven different cultures, including pottery, ivory, tin, and the oldest glass ingots ever found." "But the principal cargo was copper some 200 ingots, each weighing about 60 pounds." "When combined with tin, such ingots make bronze, and the wreck did prove to be of the Late Bronze Age the oldest shipwreck known." "In 1986 an expedition from Woods Hole, Massachusetts, sought to explore the most celebrated shipwreck of modern times" "A luxury liner that sank in 1912 with a loss of more than 1,500 lives." "For years the grave of the Titanic has fascinated Dr. Robert Ballard." "Now he has pinpointed the wreck and hear echoes of tragedy." "Here lies Titanic, seen again by human eyes after 74 dark and silent years." "Ballard leached Titanic with Alvin, a manned submersible designed for deep-sea research." "Knowing that Titanic could be desecrated by salvagers," "Dr. Ballard felt it necessary to leave a plaque here asking that she be left intact." "But only a year passed before a rival expedition reached the wreck and took objects from Titanic." "Someday we may see beneath the waves with godlike ease and penetrate countless mysteries." "There is a great void in the story of early man." "And this tantalized a scientist named Louis Leakey are lured him to a place in Africa called Olduvai Gorge." "And now I'm down at the bottom of the gorge." "My feet are resting on the black lava which formed the old land surface on which these lake beds formed." "And here behind me are the earliest part of the Olduvai series, deposits that were formed just nearly two million years ago." "It was here that, in 1931, we first found examples of simple tools like this," "Just a water-worn pebble with a jagged cutting edge stone tools that go back to a very, very remote past in time, nearly three times as old as anything previously found." "Who were the men who made these tools?" "Where did they live and how did they live?" "And that was the problem that Mary and I went out to look for." "We wanted the answer:" "Who these men?" "In 1959 Leakey and his wife, Mary, found the fossil jaw of Zinjanthropus, a primitive form of ape-man who lived one-and-three-quarter million years ago." "The find stunned the scientific world." "For 30 years the Leakeys had faced skepticism and ridicule." "Now at last they found support as National Geographic underwrote their research." "Melville Bell Grosvenor made a commitment to the Leakey's work that would endure for a quarter of a century." "Leakey's son Richard also became a leading scientist." "In 1984 a team led by Richard Leakey found the nearly complete skeleton of an early human one-and-a-half million years old." "The Leakey legacy endures the now accepted ideas that man evolved in Africa," "That he is far older than we once thought, and that more than one kind of man-like creature lived at the same time." "Louis Leakey's interest in human origins took fascinating turns." "As his urging Jane Goodall began her epic study of chimpanzee behavior in the wild." "Goodall's study led to a new appreciation of the similarities between chimpanzees and man." "The chimps form distinct family groups" "They use tools and sometimes even wage war." "And over the years Jane Goodall came to regard many of them as friends." "Another of Leakey's disciples sought to study the mountain gorilla in Rwanda." "With extraordinary patience, Dian Fossey at last succeeded in winning the trust of these powerful but extremely shy creatures." "At such moments of contact" "Dian was deeply moved by the gorillas gentleness and trust." "One of her favorites was "Digit", so-called because of his twisted, broken finger." "In December 1977 Digit was killed by poachers, probably to sell his hands as souvenirs." "Later, other mountain gorillas in Dian's study group were also slaughtered." "Finally, Dian herself was murdered by persons unknown, quite possibly poachers." "As much as any recent event, her death foreshadowed a desperate new era in the age of ecology." "We are led to ask:" "If we cannot protect wild creatures, can we save ourselves?" "In the remote highlands of Papua New Guinea there lives a group of endangered people." "They call themselves the "Hagahai"." "Until a few years ago no outsiders knew of their existence." "And they have been so isolated they have not developed antibodies to protect them against common diseases." "Dr. Carol Jenkins is a medical anthropologist." "She first came here to document the Hagahais decline." "She returned to try to save them." "As part of a medical team," "Jenkins is fighting a desperate battle against her own grim statistics" "This baby is special because it's the only one that's lived this year." "There have been eight babies born since '87 began." "There have been eight babies is about two months old and it's the only living baby." "The Hagahai are so vulnerable, only the most wrenching changes can help them." "Trained to observe such cultures," "Carol Jenkins finds herself helping to profoundly alter this one." "As tropical rain forests give way to human demands, there is danger on every hand." "This is the richest, most complex ecosystem on earth." "From it have come many of our drugs, our food plants, our useful chemicals." "Can we survive without this blessing of diversity?" "As the century of discovery comes to an end, a century of destruction could be beginning." "And of all living creatures only man has the power to decide what the future holds for the planet Earth." "Often quietly and in unspectacular ways, the task of discovery goes on." "And technology can make explorers of us all." "A few years ago Jean Mueller was a librarian." "Seeking a new challenge, she went to work for Palomar Observatory in California." "Jean works on the Second Palomar Sky Survey, a project partially sponsored by National Geographic." "Its goal is to make a photographic map of the heavens that shows more detail than we have ever seen before." "On a mountaintop in the dead of night," "Jean often sees what no one has ever seen before an image on a newly developed glass plate 14 inches square." "Each pinpoint on the plate is a star, possibly a galaxy worlds upon worlds so numerous that we cannot comprehend them." "The scale of this vision is staggering" "Every plate contains millions of pinpoints," "And it will take 894 separate plates to scan the skies over Palomar." "And this represents the Northern Hemisphere alone." "To explore this, much less understand it, seems incredible." "But what wonders have we seen in these last hundred years." "And in the next hundred, what more?"