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S40E3

The Elephant and the Termite

Premiere: 11/3/2021 | 0:30 |

Witness the creation of the waterhole, one of Africa’s greatest wildlife meeting places manufactured by giant elephants and tiny termites. From baboons to dung beetles to chameleons, an entire community of creatures call the waterhole their home.

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About the Episode

In arid regions across southern Kenya, the waterhole, created by elephants and termites, is central to life. It is where animals visit to drink and where some creatures are born and die. Every visit is charged with tension; a waterhole is the perfect place for predators to wait in ambush. That is the traditional view, but there is an entire community of creatures that call the waterhole home, many of whom live at an elephant’s toenail height such as frogs, dung beetles and chameleons. This is the remarkable story of the relationship between Africa’s largest and smallest and the unique wildlife community they support. Peabody Award-winning filmmakers Mark Deeble and Vicky Stone (Nature: The Queen of Trees) and their small, dedicated team spent two years of their lives camped out at a waterhole in Kenya to record life at Africa’s great wildlife meeting place.

Buzzworthy Moments:

Waterholes, the oases of life in Kenya’s Tsavo East National Park, rely on elephants and termites for their creation. Termite mounds contain rich nutrients that elephants love. Their constant excavation becomes a hollow in the landscape that is then filled with water when the rains come. Each time a family of elephants visits, they wallow in the mud and the hole grows even bigger.

Among the first animals to arrive at the waterhole are killifish, whose tiny eggs are carried by the elephant’s feet. Lungfish, who spend each dry season asleep underground, lie in wait for the waters to arrive each season before emerging.

Ten million red-billed quelearest at the waterhole during their migration. These small birds are prey for larger birds, including steppe eagles. One quelea escapes the jaws of a terrapin only to be spotted by an eagle and must hide in a log before making a quick escape.

Insects are plentiful at the waterhole and provide a much-needed meal for other predators. Chameleons snatch up butterflies with their long tongues. Bat-eared foxes catch hapless dung beetles who escape with their dung balls. Bullfrogs learn the hard way the correct way to eat crunchy termites – not face first!

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PRODUCTION CREDITS

THE ELEPHANT AND THE TERMITE

A FILM BY
MARK DEEBLE & VICTORIA STONE

NARRATED BY
NOMA DUMEZWENI

DIRECTED BY
MARK DEEBLE & VICTORIA STONE

ASSISTANT DIRECTOR
ETIENNE OLIFF

WRITER
MARK DEEBLE

PRODUCER
VICTORIA STONE

CINEMATOGRAPHY
MARK DEEBLE

COMPOSER
GUY MICHELMORE

EDITORS
VICTORIA STONE
SOPHIA EVANS

FILMED IN KENYA TSAVO EAST NATIONAL PARK & THE GREATER AMBOSELI TSAVO ECOSYSTEM

ASSOCIATE PRODUCERS
SARA & NICK WILLIAMS

FIELD SOUND RECORDISTS
NORBERT ROTTCHER
PETER CAYLESS

CONTRIBUTING FIELD NATURALIST
NORBERT ROTTCHER

CAMERA ASSISTANT
PETER CAYLESS

FIELD ASSISTANT
HARRY WILLIAMS

PRODUCTION ASSISTANTS
LAURA SMITH
LALAGE PILCHER

FIELD PRODUCTION ASSISTANT
KERRY ROBERTS

FIELD EDIT ASSISTANT
SARAH BRIGHT

ADDITIONAL PHOTOGRAPHY
PETER CAYLESS
ETIENNE OLIFF

FIELD CREW
MUSILI SAKAYO
MAURICE OYIER
MBOGHO KIDELELA
JACKSON CHEPKWONY
MICHAEL OGUTU
ROONY ONYANGO

AUDIO POST PRODUCTION
WOUNDED BUFFALO SOUND STUDIO

SOUND EDITOR
TIM OWENS

DUBBING MIXER
BEN PEACE

FOLEY ARTIST
RORY JOSEPH

FOLEY EDITOR
TOM MERCER

VISUAL POST PRODUCTION
ONSIGHT

POST PRODUCER
JEFF HALSEY

COLORIST
ANDY LEE

ONLINE EDITOR
ADAM SAMPLE

ADDITIONAL VFX
TUDOR COLAC

HEAD OF DEVELOPMENT
TONY MAHER

POST PRODUCTION SUPERVISION
FLAT DOG PRODUCTIONS LTD

VISUAL EFFECTS
PANTON CREATIVE LTD

MUSIC
THE CITY OF PRAGUE PHILHARMONIC ORCHESTRA

ORCHESTRATOR
ANDREA POSSEE

SCORE MIX
TIM JOHNSON

CLARINET AND ADDITIONAL ORCHESTRATION
PETER THIJS

SPECIAL THANKS
KENYA WILDLIFE SERVICE
MIKE KIRKLAND
TORBEN RUNE
NICK TRENT
RICHARD MOLLER
ANGELA SHELDRICK

FOR NATURE

SERIES EDITOR
JANET HESS

SENIOR PRODUCER
LAURA METZGER LYNCH

COORDINATING PRODUCER
JAYNE JUN

ASSOCIATE PRODUCER
JAMES F. BURKE

LEGAL COUNSEL
BLANCHE ROBERTSON

DIGITAL LEAD
DANIELLE BROZA

ASSOCIATE PRODUCER – DIGITAL
AMANDA SCHMIDT

SOCIAL MEDIA EDITOR
KAREN HO

AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT
CHELSEY SAATKAMP

BUDGET CONTROLLER
JAYNE LISI

ONLINE EDITORS
CHRIS GUIDO
STACEY DOUGLASS MOVERLEY

RE-RECORDING MIXER
JON BERMAN

ORIGINAL EPISODE PRODUCTION FUNDING PROVIDED IN PART BY
BRADLEY L. GOLDBERG FAMILY FOUNDATION

ORIGINAL SERIES PRODUCTION FUNDING PROVIDED IN PART BY
CORPORATION FOR PUBLIC BROADCASTING 
ARNHOLD FOUNDATION
THE FAIRWEATHER FOUNDATION
KATE W. CASSIDY FOUNDATION
SUE AND EDGAR WACHENHEIM III
KATHY CHIAO AND KEN HAO
CHARLES ROSENBLUM
FILOMEN M. D’AGOSTINO FOUNDATION
LILLIAN GOLDMAN CHARITABLE TRUST
LEONARD AND NORMA KLORFINE
SANDRA ATLAS BASS
COLIN S. EDWARDS
GREGG PETERS MONSEES FOUNDATION
KOO AND PATRICIA YUEN

SERIES PRODUCER
BILL MURPHY

EXECUTIVE PRODUCER
FRED KAUFMAN

A DEEBLE, STONE & OLIFF PRODUCTION WITH THE WNET GROUP IN CO-PRODUCTION WITH TERRA MATER FACTUAL STUDIOS IN ASSOCIATION WITH NHK

THIS PROGRAM WAS PRODUCED BY THIRTEEN PRODUCTIONS LLC, WHICH IS SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ITS CONTENT.

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