The Secret Life of Elephants

Baby elephant Breeze is growing up fast, but with the dry season approaching, she is about to face her biggest test yet. Meanwhile, Breeze's teenage brother Buster seems intent on getting himself and Breeze into trouble. Outside the reserve, more trouble is brewing as people and elephants come into conflict. Elephant expert Iain Douglas-Hamilton sends daughter Saba on a mission to help one of their best-known elephants - Mountain Bull - who is on a collision course with farmers and villagers. Elsewhere, a marauding group of bulls cause havoc by breaking into fields and raiding crops. The team think they might have an unusual solution and will need the help of some African honey bees. Back in the reserve, a devastating drought takes hold and Breeze and her family are forced to compete with other elephants for food and water. Will baby Breeze survive these hard times?

First in a series of three programmes revealing the emotional and dramatic lives of elephants in Kenya's Samburu reserve. As the day begins, there is great excitement in one elephant family when a new baby, named Breeze, is born. But her first few weeks look set to be the most dangerous of her life. Meanwhile, elephant experts Iain and Saba Douglas-Hamilton face the huge challenge of fitting a radio collar to a three-tonne female elephant with an entire herd looking out for her. Breeze faces her first big test, crossing a river, and the research team investigate when one of their best-known bull elephants is found dead in suspicious circumstances. Back in the reserve, a young calf becomes injured and cannot keep up with his herd. His mother sticks with him, but will he survive without the support of a family? There is further tragedy when a matriarch dies. In unique footage, a herd of elephants visit her body, and appear to mourn her death.