Natural World (1983) s24e08 Episode Script

A family of meerkats living among the dunes of Africa's Kalahari Desert Over the past 10 years, this group has been studied in such exquisite detail that we now have an amazing insight into meerkats' way of life We know that for meerkats, family is everything Mothers and sisters, sons and uncles, allies and enemies Their families are much like ours So when it comes to juggling the bonds and rivalries of family life perhaps we can imagine what it's like to be part of the meerkats' world Meet Ella, a young female, 2 years old This is the world she lives in and this is her extended family This may all seem idyllic but for Ella, there is trouble in paradise Ella is an increasing threat to her own mother a simple fact that could lead her to being banished from the group forever Our story starts one cold spring morning As the family emerge, they go through their usual routine But Ella's life has changed dramatically She's given birth to three pups: Django, Max and Charlie The result of a fleeting liaison three months ago Ella is the eldest daughter of the family's despotic ruler Flower and next in line to her mother's throne But for now, breeding rights and the radio collar belong to Flower alone With food and water always scarce, the entire family cooperates to rear her young Ella's pups are an unwelcome addition For Django, Max and Charlie, the first 36 hours were critical at this stage, they were at risk of being killed and eaten by their grandmother They are lucky to have survived this far Some time in the next few weeks, Flower may banish Ella into exile Grooming her mother may help to placate her Flower leads most of the group out to forage for food Her own youngest pups stay behind, cared for by babysitters including Ella At least by helping suckle Flower's pups Ella can stay close to her own 3 boys who are still hidden underground They are still totally dependent on her Ella's pups are incredibly vulnerable and danger can come in many forms Yossarian, the family¡¯s recently deposed dominant male He can be unpredictable and what he does next is very much true to form Suddenly, Yossarian disappears underground and reappears with Ella's youngest pup Charlie, clasped in his jaws Dumping the tiny youngster on the scorching earth, he heads below again and fetches Max Ella seems powerless to act For some reason, he's initiated a den move Without Flower's authority, he has even managed to enlist the help of the young babysitters Blind and helpless, Ella's pups will not survive long in the baking sun Charlie tries to crawl back to the den but Yossarian grabs him once again Ella can't rescue him from Yossarian's grip as panic spreads, the babysitters scatter even Flower's precious pups risk of being trampled under foot Ella finds Charlie, but Yossarian and the babysitters have made off with Django and Max Ella returns to Charlie but she can't let Yossarian get too far away He and his companions arrive at their new hideout but they don't seem sure what to do next and now Flower and the rest of the group are back and Yossarian is in big trouble Yossarian drops Max and flees Ella rushes to check on her boys They seem to have survived unscathed but where is little Charlie Night is falling and the temperature is dropping fast While Flower is reunited with her own pups, Ella's youngest is still missing Charlie is out there somewhere in the cold, alone much too weak to make his own way back For Ella, it's a mother's nightmare Charlie is missing, but how can she leave Django and Max Next morning it's clear Yossarian has been ostracized and forced to spend a long, cold night alone and tragically, he's not the only one Charlie's little body is still lying where he was abandoned Left out in the desert night, he didn't stand a chance As the day warms up, the group gathers at a derelict cattle ranch which offers some useful amenities a personal water supply is a luxury in their desert world Flower decides where the group forages each day, depending on where the best food is to be found Although Ella may want to stick close to Django and Max sometimes hunger forces her out to forage with the group and she has no choice but to leave them in the babysitters' care Flower's privileged pups are growing fast becoming more boisterous by the day They are a real handful for the babysitters Play fights are becoming more aggressive and tantrum's more commonplace Django and Max are tiny by comparison After the Yossarian incident, can Ella really entrust them to anyone else's care? As Flower's pups grow, their babysitters deliver live snacks to start the weaning process a juicy legless lizard is so tempting that everyone wants a piece This meal time free for all, is no place for little Django but his curiosity is bigger than he is and he can't resist a closer look When one of Flower's pups loses his prize, he takes it out on the one pup smaller than himself Ignored by the babysitters, Django is left shocked and all alone When the group finally returns home, Ella rushes to Django's side She's already lost Charlie, now Django could easily have died too She seems to be the only one who cares about her tiny illicit pups If they are going to survive, she'll have to keep them with her all the time but how? Next morning, Ella makes a brave decision This time when she heads off with the group to forage, she takes Django and Max along At only 2 weeks old, they are really much too small to leave the den but it's Ella's best hope of keeping them alive Flower's pampered pups run rings around Django and Max They are big enough to relish exploring the outside world But for Ella's boys, it is a terrifying experience While Max is tough enough to keep up with the group Django always seems to need a helping hand She'll need a huge amount of luck, as well as dedication if she's going to keep her pups alive Flower is an ever present threat for Ella Even her own pups feel the brunt of her aggressive nature How much longer will she tolerate her rival daughter in the group? Ella knows she might be evicted at any time With predators all around, Ella and her boys will have to be especially vigilant The greatest risk is from the skies, a snake eagle will quickly home in on the softest targets below In this case - Django and Max The best hope is to melt into the crowd Somehow Django just about keeps up but now there is danger up ahead as well The group is straight off their home turf They've crossed an invisible boundary constantly in dispute with their rival group And their trespassing hasn't gone unnoticed Suddenly they are running in fear It's a nightmare scenario for Django, Max and Ella If the pups get separated from their mother, they'll be torn apart Flower's group mount a counter charge but in all the confusion, Django and Max have got cut off from their mom After some posturing, the outnumbered enemy turn tail and run but where are Ella's boys? Amazingly she's found them safe and sound It's the end of an exhausting and traumatic day for Django, Max and Ella Ella took a huge risk in taking them foraging, but it paid off Given their lowly rank and tiny size everyday, Django and Max survive is a miracle and a triumph for their devoted mother But this long day is not over yet, there is another surprise in store The rival group has left a calling card Carlos, a young male but he hasn't stayed to pick another fight This time his intentions are romantic and he's got his eye on Ella's younger sister Daisy With her family distracted by the stranger, Daisy creeps away for an illicit rendezvous Ella watches her younger sister's antics Daisy sneaks back to the group but she can't hide the smell of Carlos's distinctive scent First Ella, and now Daisy have managed to find a secret mate Could Flower's eye and grip on the group be slipping? A month has passed, and Ella's pups are thriving against all the odds but they still got a lot to learn about the ins and outs of meerkat life Max is a steady character, and keen to please, but Django has a short attention span and better things to do than pay attention to his mom And right now, Ella's pups are in more danger every day Flower is pregnant again and as the birth of her new litter approaches she becomes increasingly intolerant of her older daughter's presence in the group Her hormone levels are pushing her towards a tipping point she could snap at any time Instinct drives her to eradicate any possible danger to her own unborn pups particularly old female, such as Ella who may try to kill her young A showdown with her daughter is now unavoidable Ella receives the full force of her mother's wrath This time, Ella has no choice but to run for her life Django and Max try to follow but their mother is gone For the first time in her life, Ella is all alone As evening falls, the family huddles as usual Ella has never been more than a touch away Now she seems worlds apart and she faces a cold night sleeping alone During the next month, Flower gives birth to 3 more healthy pups while Ella lives in solitary limbo Drawn towards the safety of the group, but also repelled by the threatening presence of her mother Django and Max manage to live off their wits, they have learnt just enough from their mother to get them through but another bizarre twist of fate is on its way One morning, Ella wakes to find that something's changed She can still see her mother, but it seems her entourage has shrunk Instead of around 40 meerkats, she has only a few adults and 2 of her new pups by her side Where in the world is the rest of the group Django and Max are now too old for Flower to kill them, but what has happened to them? Yossarian, Daisy and the others seem to have vanished into thin air For some reason, the group has split in two, leaving Flower in charge of only a handful of animals Are Django and Max still alive? Ella sets off to seek the rest of her family The answer is not too far away Django and Max are absolutely fine, right in the heart of the rest of the family Ella tracks the large group, her instinct's pulling her towards the warmth and safety she has missed It seems just too good to be true Now that her mother's gone might Ella get a second chance to join her family? While Ella was away, Django and Max have grown and seemed to be doing fine They have the usual brotherly squabbles and now Django is no longer the baby of the family He gets his own back by bullying Flower's new pup As Ella watches though, it becomes clear that no one is in charge no one is showing any inclination to take over the burden of leadership But if there is trouble to be found Django and Max are never far away and Ella isn't close enough to rescue them After a few days, it really seems that dice have rolled in Ella's favor Her tyrannical mother's gone, there is a vacancy for a new leader Ella seizes her chance and rejoins her family After so many weeks alone, she's finally reunited with Django and Max And as she is now leader and likely to be in the group for the long term Ella has received her very own radio collar What an extraordinary day for Ella At sunrise, she awoke cold and alone and now, as dusk falls, she's back in the bosom of her family as their leader Freed at last from Flower's dictatorship the next few weeks are magical for the group and Ella is in meerkat heaven But what of Flower As Ella's star is rising, Flower seems to be fading fast a combination of small group size and two hungry pups is putting Flower's group under intense pressure, forcing them to forage in all weather conditions As Flower becomes more desperate, will she try to reclaim what she's lost? Then another twist of fate Flower's group has returned Ella's mother watches and waits Is Ella about to lose everything once again? Flower throws down the gauntlet she's not going to back down There's just too much at stake If Ella's group supports her now, they'll easily defeat her mother's challenge But will they back their old leader or their new? everything in just their loyalty Ella desperately tries to spread her scent, signaling to Flower that she is now dominant Flower and her group war dance forward across no man's land For Ella, this is the moment of truth Face to face with her ruthless mother once again For both of them, the stakes are now sky high The sight of Flower sends ripples of panic through Ella And one by one, her family leave her side It's clear that Flower still has the strongest hold and Ella doesn't have the stomach for a fight Once again, Ella's mother has turned her life upside down Flower's spell is so strong, not even Django and Max can resist Deserted by her family, even her sons it seems that Ella's last chance has been snatched away and she's alone again The family now find themselves under a fresh assault: a sudden storm Only just reunited, the group are running in blind panic Disorientated, they charge from one bolthole to the next, desperate to reach a den site with sufficient shelter to sit out the storm In their confusion though, they've crossed into hostile territory With nights now upon them, they bed down behind enemy lines Now Flower's family is in real danger Ella has tracked them as they fled still shocked and confused of being deserted Damp and bedraggled, and without her family's body warmth, she faces yet another cold and uncomfortable night Next morning after the rain, the desert feels like the garden of Eden But the reality is that the group is in forbidden territory It would be best to head home straight away but everyone seems more concerned with getting their place in the sun to warm off the night's chill Ella remains close by, a silent shadow on the fringes of the group Once their little bodies have warmed up the group slowly begins to head back home With earth still stuck to their damp fur, Django and Max look as if they've been dipped in coco powder But the family has slept in someone else's beds and they've been spotted by their arch rival's border patrol Last time, their rivals ran, but they won't take this lying down From her position on the perimeter, Ella can see that danger developing Caught between two factions, with no friends on either side, she is in a dangerous position Flower finally spots the danger, her group closes ranks and both sides prepare for the battle of their lives After a vicious fight, Flower's group is victorious, but at a price There are many walking wounded Ella herself bears the scars of battle Django is limping but he seems okay but so far, there is no sign of Max As the battle weary family regroup, Max too turns up alive and well but someone else is missing in action Ella can't see Flower She usually leads from the front perhaps her age's finally caught up with her Was this one fight too far? Has Ella got her second chance to take her place? It's not to be Flower has survived She seems invincible This time, for her rejected daughter there is no going back Her last hope of reprieve is gone Ella makes her choice Turning her back on her family for a final time, Ella heads into the wilderness Stripped of her family's protection, she is now entering a dangerous and solitary twilight world But Ella's not alone She's been watched She's caught the attention of Carlos, the roving male He may not offer Ella an instant solution to her problems but he could be a part of her future For Ella, a whole new life may be about to start She is free from her mother's influence at last Her old life has come to a close She may never see Django and Max again but she succeeded in keeping them alive and now they are old enough to survive without her Leaving her family was a high price to pay but there sure to be more evicted females If any of her sisters join her, they'll have the foundations of a new group And maybe this will be Ella's future a family all of her own