Nature

In Zambia's Luangwa Valley...

a future king was born.

From season, to season...

one year, to the next...

he embarked on a journey towards greatness.

He already had the attitude and behaved like royalty.

Gradually he became fearless.

Becoming stronger with each fight...

more confident with each journey.

He was a formidable contender to the throne.

From waters shrouded in mystery, comes a story

of an African leviathan.

Every movement prehistoric...

every contour otherworldly...

slowly rising from the deep...

an old hippo bull.

The years have taken their toll.

His tired, cloudy eyes reflect a brutal life hard-lived.

He has seen it all.

His maze of scars...

Skin-deep memories from ancient battles.

But in his prime...

this once-invincible bull chose a path of war.

This is the remarkable story of his journey...

that led to the ultimate battle that crowned him king.

A long, long time ago, in Zambia's Luangwa Valley...

where a mighty river is home

to one of the largest hippo populations in the world,

the dry season had just begun.

In the blistering heat, a hippo pod was basking in the sun,

and one female had separated herself from the others.

It was the day a future king was born.

He took his first glimpse of the outside world.

The little newcomer drew unwanted attention.

His mother was well aware of the danger.

She kept her calf close.

But the crocodiles weren't her only concern.

A lion, in search of prey.

Her calf, a perfect target.

And this young male was heading straight for them.

But something made him hesitate.

The river belonged to another predator.

It gave her time to hide the calf.

But the lion braved the waters.

While focused on finding the calf,

the lion was facing a protective mother.

His courageous mother saved his life.

In those first few weeks,

his mother kept him separate from the main pod.

This precious time together was essential

in strengthening their bond.

Recognizing his mother once they joined the pod

would be crucial for his safety.

He would rely on her protection for years to come.

And then the big day arrived.

His mother led him to the main pod.

He was ready to join his family.

Becoming part of the main pod seemed to be a safe move

with all-'round protection.

But amongst these 3-ton giants,

the calf was all the more vulnerable.

Explosions of aggression are common amongst hippos.

But ironically, it was his father

that was by far the biggest threat.

When he went into battle with an opponent,

razor-sharp tusks clashing,

their brute force would crush anything in their way.

Calves often fall victim to these brutal fights.

Thankfully his mother was protective and caring.

But with the river shrinking and the pod growing,

tension would only rise,

so becoming part of a crèche provided a safe space.

The youngsters stayed close together,

surrounded by a few protective mothers.

They spent their days basking in the sun,

with not a care in the world.

And that's when he got to meet his new friends.

The oxpeckers.

Little birds that removed parasites

and cleaned the hippos' wounds.

But they often made things worse.

To many, they became a nuisance.

Every fresh wound was a reason for battle.

They were out for blood.

Getting rid of them was mission impossible.

Submerging was the only way.

And when the river became too low,

water cannons were brought to bear.

An effective way to send a bird packing,

but they would always return.

Oxpeckers would be his lifelong companions.

As this dry season progressed,

carmine bee-eaters made their entrance.

With the river now low enough, they were able to start nesting.

While the birds added a splash of much-needed color

to the advancing drought,

the calf grew into a more confident youngster.

He would stand his ground...

and took on his first battles.

He was learning to be bold.

Sparring sessions prepared him for the fights

that were to come later in life.

And he would lean on his mother

to reach greater heights.

Heights he could still only dream of.

He already had the attitude and behaved like royalty.

Until the true king of beasts arrived.

Being surrounded by lions

quickly brought him back to reality.

His attitude faded as fear took hold.

The river was their haven.

But the lioness could swim, too.

A calf his size is easy prey for a lion.

The big cat was surrounded by hippos.

Her snarls were intimidating.

But an adult hippo could easily kill her.

In this river, she was just as vulnerable

as he was on land.

The lioness made a daring move, so close to the hippos.

her pride intently watching.

She might have made it past the hippos,

but crocodiles still lurked below.

From the safety of the pod,

the calf watched the saga unfold.

The lioness was fortunate to make it across alive.

As the Luangwa River kept shrinking,

more and more hippos congregated...

and fought over every inch of space.

The cruel reality of the drought hit hard.

A feast had begun.

Dead hippos attracted attention.

It was the calf's first time

to experience the dark side of the dry season.

When the hippos suffered, the crocodiles thrived.

With the river at its lowest,

the hippos desperately searched for food and space.

The first blissful rain finally arrived.

It brought relief to everyone in the pod.

A moment to relax.

Even the calf's father dropped his guard.

A moment a challenger had been waiting for.

His father had to defend his throne.

There could only be one dominant bull.

It was an equal match.

A fight like this ended in stalemate.

His father did some serious damage to his opponent,

but the bull himself was nearing the end of his reign.

The season had turned.

The Luangwa Valley transformed into an emerald green paradise.

The calf had made it through his first dry season,

and was now thriving, with plenty of grass and space.

Making it this far was a significant victory.

Many hippo calves don't survive their first few months.

For him, the future seemed promising.

Throughout the different seasons,

the calf remained close to his mother

and was mostly by her side.

Every time the rains returned,

it meant the end of hardship.

The cycle of the seasons

saw him grow ever bigger.

These periods of prosperity

made the youngster more independent,

which encouraged him to aim higher.

Throughout the years, the calf grew into an adolescent,

gaining confidence and size.

He followed his mother from one pod to the next,

and with his newfound bravado,

he spent most of his time sparring with his peers.

Slowly his tusk force grew bigger and sharper.

He was a king in the making.

Luangwa lay at his feet.

Having walked these paths for centuries,

the hippos of Luangwa know its secrets to survival.

His mother, too, had a lifetime of experiences behind her.

She knew how to survive here, even during the worst droughts.

But she was getting old and frail,

and had not given birth to any more calves.

So it was still just the two of them.

Now as a subadult, he no longer depended on her,

but would stay with his mother for as long as he could.

Their bond seemed everlasting.

But then, as the dry season reached its peak,

everything changed.

His mother...

prone and vulnerable.

She desperately tried to make it back to the river,

but she had no strength left.

His mother was facing a slow death.

She had reached the end of her time.

The next morning,

the youngster stood by helplessly.

His mother had died.

He threatened the lions that surrounded her but was ignored.

Scavengers were circling.

There was nothing he could do.

He was frustrated and confused, not knowing where to go.

Wandering around aimlessly,

he hadn't noticed the trap he was walking into.

That was a close call.