(upbeat music)
- Letters of the alphabet.
W is for Wild Horse.
(upbeat music)
This is the southwest coast of Africa.
It's a desert landscape that has not changed
for hundreds and thousands of years.
The white hot sun burns down day after day.
It's very dry and it's here
that one finds one of nature's true mysteries,
the wild horses of Namibia.
(upbeat music)
An older mare, the female horse, always leads a herd.
She is the one who makes the rules,
keeps the youngsters under control,
and decides where they should go
to look for food and water.
(upbeat music)
A stallion, which is a male horse,
protects the herd and fights are often caused
when a bachelor or young male challenges the older stallion.
That is exactly what is happening here.
A bachelor is trying to become part of the group
so that he can mate with the females,
but the older stallion is pushing him away.
It's almost unbelievable that horses would fight
when there's so much space around them,
but they certainly do,
and it's all about hierarchy and mating.
This horse has clearly been involved
in many fights in his lifetime.
(upbeat music)
Through the years, the horses have trodden
many paths in the desert.
(upbeat music)
To keep strong and healthy,
all horses have to eat almost 24 hours a day,
not easy to do when you live in the desert,
where there's very little grass to eat.
(upbeat music)
In an omenian desert, it requires much effort
and traveling long distances to find food and water.
(upbeat music)
A windmill and man-made trough provide the only source
of water in this area.
(upbeat music)
These horses only drink every 30 to 40 hours,
or three or four times a week,
whereas a domestic horse would drink almost every two hours.
(upbeat music)
And then it's time for a mud bath to get rid of any itches.
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music)
No one knows exactly where these horses came from.
One theory is that the horses once belonged to a farm
in the area from where they ran away into the desert.
Another theory is that German soldiers left them here.
Whatever the real story is, they've survived,
despite long droughts and scarce grazing.
(upbeat music)
Listen to this, one would not normally expect horses
to survive in such a barren and dry environment.
However, these herds have roamed this region
for the past 80 years.
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music)
Here are some other words that begin with W.
Can you think of any others?
Web, worm, water, winter.
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music)
(dramatic music)
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music)
Letters of the alphabet, X is for,
well, let's pretend a little bit, exotic,
and what is more exotic than the lemur.
Lemurs are only found in Madagascar
and live in the bushes and trees of thick rainforests
on this island off the coast of Africa.
(upbeat music)
There are over 50 species of lemur
and 17 of these are on the endangered species list
because their forest habitats are being burnt
to make space for planting crops.
Though it isn't obvious by its look,
lemurs are primates,
meaning that they're related to apes and humans.
(upbeat music)
Most lemurs have pointed mouths in large eyes.
(upbeat music)
They have monkey-like bodies, arms, and legs,
and most have bushy tails about as long as their bodies.
(upbeat music)
They're covered head to toe in a soft, thick, wooly fur.
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music)
They're social animals that like spending their days
hanging around in groups, playing and communicating.
The lemur is an excellent climber,
swinging from branches and moving up and down tree trunks
with the greatest of ease.
(upbeat music)
They also have a very good sense of balance
using their tail to help them.
Lemurs are mainly vegetarian,
meaning that they eat leaves and fruit,
but they wouldn't say no to the occasional insect or two.
(upbeat music)
Depending on the species,
the lemur can vary in color from reddish brown to gray.
They come in all different sizes too.
(upbeat music)
They communicate using a variety of clicks, yells, and moans,
though they also have some stranger methods,
such as wading their tails in the air
and leaving different smells on the surfaces they cross
using the scent glands in their arms and feet.
(upbeat music)
This will tell any other lemurs that are nearby
that they have been there and may still be in the area.
(upbeat music)
They're often seen perched on the smallest of points
or casually strolling along the tops of fence posts.
(upbeat music)
Listen to this.
Here's a lemur showing off the scent glands on his arms.
It's from these that they release the smells
that mark their territory.
(upbeat music)
X is a funny letter.
It very rarely starts a word.
It usually comes in the middle or at the end of a word.
Here are some.
Can you think of any others?
Box.
Six.
Exit.
Excitement.
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music)
(upbeat music)