For Release: March 19 , 2007
On the grassy Kenya savannah, filmmaker Martyn Colbeck patiently earned the trust of a n elephant matriarch named Echo and her offspring and, with that trust, privileged glimpses into the most intimate moments of their lives. Nature "Unforgettable Elephants" capture s a stirring family saga spanning generations, including poignant b irths and deaths, carefree play, ferocious fights, reluctant partings and joyous reunions. Narrated by Colbeck, the program airs Sunday, April 1 at 8 /7 p.m. C T on KET2 and Saturday, April 7 at 9/8 p.m. CT on KET1 .The program takes viewers to Namibia , where a group of desert elephants march across a sea of undulating, arid dunes for a precious drink of water. And in the Congo rainforest, jungle elephants and their small families congregate in scores near water holes, e njoying each other's company.
Back at Kenya's Amboseli National Park, Echo and her family endure the days-long struggle of Echo's newborn calf Ely to fully straighten his front legs--the first time such a condition was caught on film. Also, a family enjoys a raucous greeting ceremony after time spent apart and an elephant " slumber party " 15 strong.
"Unforgettable Elephants" captures the nighttime birth of another of Echo's calves , Ebony. Later, Ebony would be kidnapped by a rival family trying to assert its place in the elephant hierarchy, only to be rescued by a show of brute force by Echo and the oth er large females in her family.
Echo is now 60 - years - old, yet recently bore her eighth calf, a baby girl named Esprit, who may co me to be a matriarch herself.
Nature "Unforgettable Elephants" is a production of WNET/New York. More information about KET programming and education services, as well as how to support KET, can be found at www.ket.org.