An old acquaintance on the hunt - Spectacular wildlife on the Congo River

the congo river a pounding pulse across  africa the deepest river in the world   home to untold untamed creatures the river is born here he blows  bubbles like a baby he is the congo trekking 5 000 kilometers across  central africa he grows stronger brazen   ferocious only the amazon river moves more  water but the congo is the world's deepest locals call him shembeshi he answers to many names   takes on different identities  touches countless lives each november this river hosts  central africa's most swinging party the largest mammal migration  on earth starts slowly these straw colored fruit bats fly in from all  over central africa and gather in one grove swarms of hundreds become hundreds of thousands then up to 10 million these unconventional conventioneers pass  up food in their mad rush to get here   a place called kasanka like a roman orgy they come  to gorge themselves and mate they crammed together for  safety and warmth forming   one of the largest fruit bat colonies in the world the millions of bats tied as roof tiles roost in  an area that would cover just 60 football fields   quiet comes to casanka again as the sky brightens this latecomer  brushes his teeth and goes to bed at twilight they get the party started the famished animals tear into their buffet each night the 250 gram bats eat twice  their weight in fruit about 6 000 tons worth with bellies full of mabola plums  wild loquat and waterberry fruits   the bats add about 10 tons  to each tree they cling to in 10 weeks they've picked  the grove clean party over the bats move on spreading  seeds on their trip home everything goes back to  normal just before christmas but there's nothing normal  about the congo river who   begins his journey in zambia south central africa here north of kasanka the congo suckled by  bang vaiulu one of the largest marshes on earth the bang the ulu wetlands cover  an area half the size of belgium seventeen rivers feed it but only one drains it in kadende the local language bangvalu  means where the water meets the sky wildlife thrives here just as the bang viulu feeds the congo fish from  these waters feed about fifty thousand zambians   locals build fishing camps deep in the  swamps reachable only by wooden pirog boats papyrus plants grow thick creating a  mini marshland jungle five meters tall in this jungle the major predator  isn't a lion but a giant bird the shoe bill he stands 1.4 meters tall and  if his bill were a real shoe   it'd be about a man's size three and a half but he's really a sneaker waiting for prey he can stand for  hours motionless as a gargoyle near the floor of the papyrus  forest weavers brood by the water the picky chicks assert their independence  and want nothing to do with this worm a few meters up in the top-heavy papyrus canopy  other weavers start families of their own   the males build their love nests to  attract a mate and if she likes it   she'll move in and redecorate the nursery  but every motion starts the cradle rocking until disaster strikes flinging  a little one out of its nest the weaver chick too young to fly  drops in on the shoe bill for lunch unfortunately for the weavers bang veolu's  shoe bills will always be hot on their heels below the surface of the marsh the roots of the  papyrus jungle reach back in time to the domain   of a creature that first settled here almost  400 million years ago long before the dinosaurs like the papyrus plants the  african lungfish spans two worlds this fish has gills but it still needs  air every half hour otherwise it'll drown unlike most fish it has a primitive lung   and what's more it can perform  a truly breathtaking feat when the dry season comes and water turns  to puddles and puddles turn into mud the african lungfish finds  himself in the thick of it that's okay the secret to lungfish longevity  starts with a drought-defying burrow in the mud about 25 centimeters below the surface  the fish spews mucus it solidifies   to form a cocoon-like shelter that  traps moisture and lets in air the lungfish enters estivation while most  animals burn fat for energy to keep alive   the lungfish digests muscle in its tail it can survive for months until the season changes and salvation comes raining down upon it so speaking just a few days of rain changes everything  plunging bangvalu underwater again as the ground starts to soften the lungfish rise like zombies all over the place if need be they could have  waited two years or more they climb back to the real world with  help from their modified finger-like fins and hit the water then a quick trip to the surface  for a refreshing gulp of air but maybe this fellow should have stayed in bed the lungfish waited months to breathe again  now he awakens to a world of familiar dangers adapted for life in and out of  the water he's built for survival but then so is the shoe bill almost before the congo river has even  begun the thirsty bangvalu swamp sucks up 90   of its water keeping it in perpetual  second place to the mighty amazon   most of the water flowing into the marshland  evaporates or gets absorbed by plants the 10 percent that's left leaves the  swamps here as a single river luapula the congo river wanders like a roving teenager  traipsing across africa to find himself he makes his way into the  democratic republic of the congo   a country inaccessible to  most and dangerous to many the river starts at a height  of one thousand meters it snakes through the acacia trees of the  african land which provide a comfortable habitat   for guys like this the african rock python the biggest snake on the  continent and one of the largest in the world over his 20-year lifespan he'll never stop  growing and could reach up to seven meters he lacks venomous fangs but the  constrictor's deadly embrace does the trick he can even sneak up and crush a  full-grown monkey caught napping but today no such luck if need be he'll hang out  inconspicuously on the tree for hours right now the action's on the ground  where helmeted guinea fowl scratch   for a meal of their own this small family  mob searches for seeds worms and insects they're also on constant lookout for danger ready  to squawk at the slightest threat one would make   a nice snack for the python but predator  and prey don't seem to notice each other two days later the snake is still hungry he's in the middle of molting  his smooth scales turning flaky   and until the scales fall from his eyes it's as  if he's looking through a plastic shopping bag he sniffs out a path to the river nothing  like a cool bath to soothe dry flaky skin the guinea fowl which never live  far from the water head there too they're hard to miss the snake could be in luck the guinea fowl huddled together  a squawking formidable mob the python can probably feel  the vibration on the ground   but his blurred vision keeps him from  locking onto just one to call dinner the guinea fowl aren't defenseless if  pressed they'll gang up and attack the snake   in his current state he's at a real disadvantage the peeling python backs down no matter  how hungry he might get during the molt   this hunter's off his game all the more reason to hit the  water and soak off that skin a molting snake is a vulnerable snake at least  he still has his tongue to sniff with for now at some point even his tongue will shed  but by then he'll be able to see again in just a few days he'll be rid of his  scales and back in business and very hungry traveling through the democratic republic of  the congo the river goes by the name lualaba about 2 000 kilometers from its birthplace  the wide and lazy river hastens its pace   crosses the equator and plunges over the edge of the world the boyoma falls mark the end  of the river's untamed course   from this point on nature and commerce share  the water on the other side of the boyoma falls   the wayward river reaches maturity becomes  navigable and is at last called the congo the city of kisangani down river of the falls   marks the start of a 1700 kilometer  trade route to kinshasa the capital the ancient and the modern  converge when the fishermen   from the vigna tribe come into  the city and sell their catch the fishermen who live by the rapids have  tied their fate to the fast flowing waters for centuries the vigna have  built large wooden frames to   hang their traditional braided fish traps so hundreds of kilometers of dense  jungle thicket borders these banks further north jungle surrenders to  savannah and becomes garamba national park the watershed that forms the park's northern  border feeds the congo and his sister the nile   garamba three times the size of los angeles   is one of africa's first national  parks established by belgium in 1938 but decades of civil war and poaching  have not been kind to the inhabitants this open grassland which attracts huge numbers  of animals invites an even swifter enemy when fire comes to garamba the breeze  can whip the flames into frenzy but the news isn't all bad   the blaze is a boom to yellow build kites  which flocked to catch insects fleeing the fire it's a risky mission but it satisfies a hankering  for a lightly toasted locust like rain or the ebb and flow of the garamba  river fire is simply part of the savannah's rhythm during the current dry season  the riverbed pokes through   and that means cramped quarters for  the 2000 or so hippos living here a single bull rules each herd but when the water's  this low and space gets tight tensions build and to top it off this bull's looking to mate  his age and size wins him the top mating spot   he picks the best place to impress the cows and  secure his dominance hippos spend most of the day   keeping cool in the water they're buoyant and  can walk along the bottom but can't really swim   the bull parks himself by the bank where he can  mate without the cows getting in over their heads   when he wants to mark his  territory the poop hits the fan he makes his point among the herd when dusk falls the hungry herd  wants to leave the water to graze   but the stubborn old bull blocks their way a young upstart moves in to challenge his  authority and take the boss down a peg game on the challenger faces off against the old bull uh the unhappy hippo holds his ground his rival retreats the old bull proving he's still the chief  hippo in charge confidently lumbers on to land the others hesitate respecting his space eventually they'll follow his lead they'll eat their fill of grasses then  return to the water before sunrise in other parts of the democratic republic of the  congo hippos face extinction hunted and poached   for meat and illegal ivory from their teeth  here the garambas remoteness protects them the garamba river winds its way hundreds  of kilometers through the savannah   before heading back into the  jungle and joining the congo here the mighty river grows  wider and more powerful   a super highway fed by hundreds of tributaries  that sand and sediment hitch a ride on over the centuries the congo has grabbed  it to build elaborate sand castles the largest is almost as big as munich the towering island of  sediment stands like a fortress small streams manage to cut into the remote center   but they pay a toll along the way the jungle  plants steal almost all the nutrients in the water this is an island of small  highly specialized creatures so cut off from the nourishing waters of the  congo the residents of this nutritional desert   had to evolve cunning ways  to scare up a decent meal the african butterfly fish gets its  name from its wing-like pectoral fins but this little fish owes its  life to the shape of its body   its flat straight back lets it sneak close  to the surface hunting without sticking out its eyes focus ahead and above not  down into the sides like most fish that lets it lurk under the foliage  with its eye trained on what's above things are looking up for the butterfly fish the congo basin is the world's  second largest rainforest   many plants and animals in the basin live nowhere  else on earth but this is no perfect paradise   just like any place else the law of the  jungle never changes kill or be killed the african mantis a hunter by  stealth survives by blending in the taxicab beetle named for its markings doesn't  realize he's about to pick up a fatal fare the mantis lost the battle but not the war months ago she laid a walnut-sized  egg sack by the banks of the stream hundreds of freshly hatched mantis nymphs  greet the world each the size of an ant very few of the nymphs will reach adulthood if  food is scarce they may even devour each other while the butterfly fish patrols the surface  the eel catfish prowls the lower depths but this catfish is no ordinary bottom feeder if it can't find food in the water it'll dine out it's flexible in another remarkable way too an extraordinarily supple spine enables the eel  catfish to bend its head down to eat a trick   most fish can't muster this kind of evolutionary  breakthrough helped vertebrates conquer the land the congo basin is like a giant lab for evolution  the dense rain forest and the river's depth speed   and rugged landscape keep species apart so they  adapt unique ways to thrive in small niches west of kissangani the congo  river embraces hundreds of   sand islands over the next 1700 kilometers dense forest thickets grow  right up to the water's edge this is the zanga river as  it merges into the congo even in a part of the world brimming with  life the zanga rainforest takes the prize   with more species of plants and  animals than almost anywhere else besides providing an all-you-can-eat salad bar to  gorillas and others rainforests generate more than   20 percent of the world's oxygen in a forest  of herbivores plants need to defend themselves   they wage a bitter battle by tasting  bad or being toxic or hard to digest   sometimes it works but in the war between plants  and animals one heavyweight has a secret weapon along the sanger river the dense and seemingly  endless jungle gives way to a huge clearing   the jungabai the village of elephants forest dwellers travel far to visit  this dusty 125 square meter plane unlike most elephants these  african forest elephants have   almost completely straight tusks to keep  from getting tangled in the dense forest the wide open space or even the water   aren't what draws them here they've  come to jangabai for one thing the mud jangabai is like a spa with minerals and  salts the animals need for their health   but can't get enough of from the plants  or the water the minerals in the mud also   neutralize caustic compounds in some of the  plants they eat an antidote to their poison the elephants squabble over the best places it's not just the large ones who  bicker the young want their share too mothers and their calves try  to keep clear of the commotion   while still managing to scarf up their minerals the grass also contains the  nutrients the elephants need this young calf could use a bit of practice those  who haven't mastered the grass cutting technique   simply vacuum up the minerals from the surface  here it's perfectly okay if the kids eat dirt elephants aren't the only  foodies to find this spot   they're just the biggest there's  plenty of dirt to go around as the congo ripples and roars over its 4  800 kilometer course changing everything in   its path it can often be harsh but it always  takes care of those tough enough to survive you

Channel: Free High-Quality Documentaries

Views: 824,447

Keywords: Free High-Quality Documentaries, HD, Full HD, Quality, Africa, Zambia, Wildlife, River, shoebill, stork, ugly, creature, hunt, prey, birds, fish, pythons, hippos, evolution, deepest river, earth, rainforest, elephant, Dzanga Bay, dwellers, forest, bats, fruit bats, colony

Id: PUrUxnIhZuE

Length: 48min 0sec (2880 seconds)

Published: Tue Nov 30 2021