Kenya's Wildlife Warriors

Overheard at National Geographic

National Geographic

Science, Society & Culture

4.5 • 10.1K Ratings

🗓️ 30 November 2021

⏱️ 25 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

In the heart of the Serengeti, hippos bathe and hyenas snatch food from hungry lions. National Geographic Explorer of the Year Paula Kahumbu brings this world to life in her documentary series Wildlife Warriors, a nature show made by Kenyans for Kenyans. Host Peter Gwin meets up with Paula in the Serengeti to learn how she became an unlikely TV star, and why it’s up to local wildlife warriors—not foreign scientists or tourists—to preserve Africa’s wild landscapes. For more info on this episode, visit natgeo.com/overheard Want more? See the Serengeti like never before in the December 2021 issue of National Geographic. Along with heart-stopping wildlife photos, subscribers can go inside the planet’s largest animal migration: the perilous 400-mile circuit of the wildebeest. Subscribers can also meet a Maasai spiritual leader who protects a remote mountain forest, and read Paula Kahumbu’s essay on the future of African conservation. Don’t miss Welcome to Earth, a Disney+ original series from National Geographic, where Will Smith is led on an epic adventure around the world to explore Earth’s greatest wonders, including the Serengeti. All six episodes stream December 8th, only on Disney+. Also explore: Watch episodes of Wildlife Warriors on its YouTube channel, WildlifeWarriorsTV. Learn more about the wildlife that makes the Serengeti irreplaceable. African elephants are “ecosystem engineers” who shape their own habitat. Hippopotamuses spend up to 16 hours a day submerged in water—that’s why their name comes from the Greek for “river horse.” If you like what you hear and want to support more content like this, please consider a National Geographic subscription. Go to natgeo.com/exploremore to subscribe today. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

Click on a timestamp to play from that location

0:00.0	I just spent the morning driving in a 4x4 through rolling grass savannas and Kenya's world-famous
0:12.4	Masamara. Already we've seen a group of cheetahs napping under a large occasion tree and
0:18.6	a pair of young male lions wallowing in the grass, eyeing a group of zebra and wildebeest
0:23.1	nearby. And we passed a majestic pair of giraffes nibbling leaves and a family of blackback
0:29.1	jackals. They were playing a game with like tag in the tall grass. The early light is
0:34.5	golden, the air is cool and the birds are singing and swooping over the grass as they hunt
0:39.4	insects. It's all pretty much a standard morning in the Serengeti ecosystem, home to some
0:44.8	of the most iconic wildlife on earth. And my traveling companion and I are looking
0:49.4	for a place to sit down and have a chat.
0:52.4	What do you think? What would be too close to the hippos? I think going halfway down the
1:00.4	bank of those is not a good idea.
1:02.4	Okay. Because it just freaks them out or it...
1:07.6	Yeah, just a step.
1:08.6	I'm with Kenyan Conservationist Paul Kahumbu. We stop on a high bank overlooking the Mara
1:13.9	River and in the water a couple dozen hippo heads poke above the surface.
1:19.6	That male is talking to these guys down here and they are a little bit alert because we're
1:27.8	here. So they've all gone under water and just their nostrils and their eyes are popping
1:32.4	up and they're checking us out. And he's warning them that we're here. Don't come this way.
1:39.1	Trust me, we listen to the warning. An angry hippo is four tons of bad attitude that
1:44.7	can run in short bursts faster than a human. So Paul and I keep our distance.
1:51.0	The hippos love to hang out in the water and I always pictured them as good swimmers.
1:55.1	The Paul says that's not quite right.
	...

Please login to see the full transcript.

Previous episode | Next episode

Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from National Geographic, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.

Generated transcripts are the property of National Geographic and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.