A baby elephant kneels to drink from a small pool nestled between the legs of an adult in the heart of Tsavo, surrounded by a backdrop of other majestic elephants partially visible in the wild setting.
A small green frog peeks over a vertical green leaf, its eyes just visible, reminiscent of the vibrant greens found in Tsavo. The background is a gentle blur of green and purple hues.
Aerial view of a herd of cattle surrounding a small watering hole in Tsavo's dry, grassy landscape. Trails radiate outward, and sparse vegetation is visible across the arid terrain.
A bird with a long, curved red beak and striped feathers perches on a tree branch in the serene Tsavo landscape. The background is a softly blurred mix of greens and browns, hinting at a natural, wooded environment under gentle sunlight.
Two butterflies with detailed wings and antennae face each other on a blurred background reminiscent of Tsavo's vibrant landscapes. One butterfly's proboscis is coiled, and their textures and colors are clearly visible, creating an intimate, close-up view.
A chameleon with green and orange markings balances on a slender leaf, drinking from a droplet of water. In the softly blurred background reminiscent of Tsavo's sunlit savanna, the reptile's intricate details are highlighted in warm, natural light.

Once upon a Time in Tsavo

Nature & Wildlife·2 x 50 min·Completed

A desert oasis comes to life through elephants, termites, and tiny creatures battling for survival. A dramatic tale of nature’s delicate balance and the race for rain.

Factsheet

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Genre
Nature & Wildlife
Duration
2 × 50 min
Definition
4K
Audio
5.1
Status
Completed
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Synopsis

In arid regions across Africa, a remarkable relationship between elephants and termites creates a waterhole – a green oasis which is central to every animal’s life. The story follows an extraordinary community of creatures, that call the waterhole ‘home’ over a season in their lives. They range from a family of elephants to a pair of hornbills (aka ‘Zazu’ of The Lion King) alongside dung-beetles, chameleons, bullfrogs, geese and killifish.

The elephant family provides the background. They are the ‘architects’ and heavy lifters, but the intriguing narrative centres on the characters that live alongside them – at elephant toe-nail height.

Their Tsavo waterhole home exists for just a few months each year. One moment it’s a dusty depression in a parched landscape, the next a bustling oasis. Its creation relies on both termites and elephants. Deep underground, termites make clay by mixing minerals with organic matter and saliva. They bring it to the surface to build their mound – and that attracts elephants. Elephants excavate and eat the clay for the minerals it contains, which creates a hollow in the landscape. When it rains, they roll in the mud. A single visit by a herd can remove a ton of mud. The more mud they walk away with, the deeper the hollow becomes, so the more water it holds and the longer it lasts – a waterhole is born.

As soon as it rains, water tracks down the elephant paths and it bursts into life. The race is then on for its residents to raise their families. It is when they come into contact with the waterhole’s creators – where dung beetles push their balls between elephants’ feet, where chameleons ambush butterflies that flock to elephant dung, where they all have to avoid the giants that move among them. The dramas of the smaller characters drive the narrative – the interactions they have with the larger visitors and predators, as they seek to raise their families. We establish the animal characters and return to them time and again as they struggle to survive.

The hornbills nest in a hollow tree beside the water to try and keep their family safe from snakes, tiny Thumbelina frogs sleep inside water lily flowers only to be ousted by bees in the morning, yellow-billed storks hunt mating killifish – we follow the varied fortunes of a cast of little-known animals who call the waterhole ‘home’. Some dramas are tiny, others are huge. One day their world is overturned as a flock of millions of quelea descends on the waterhole, drawing in predators from all over Tsavo

The behaviours and interactions are new and exciting, many have never been filmed before and some are new to science; the result of the filmmakers spending four years filming.

Above all, is the imperative to find a mate and raise a family – without being eaten AND before the waterhole dries. All that they can be sure of is that one day the water will disappear – when that happens, the herds are forced to move on, but the smaller animals cannot move with them. They must employ extraordinary strategies if they are to survive. Some fish and frogs cocoon themselves underground and enter a deep hibernation-like sleep. Above them, the mud hardens and they become entombed. Others survive only as eggs in the dust. Tree frogs sit out in the open, covered by a lacquer that they dare not break – or they would shrivel and die within hours.

All are waiting for that day, when away to the East, the clouds start to build… but when that fails to happen, drought follows and their survival is in doubt.

All are desperately waiting for rain…

The drought finally breaks with the flowering of the rain bush. The waterhole fills again –the animals return and baby tortoises and chameleons hatch from their eggs and emerge. But from the moment the sun comes out, the clock begins counting down once again…

Some of Tsavo’s waterholes last for decades – but eventually each will fall victim to its own success. The more popular a waterhole becomes, the more the grass and trees around it get eaten. The hooves of visiting animals break up the topsoil and then every time it rains, their paths and tracks funnel silt-laden runoff down into the waterhole. For a while it may hold its own, but once more silt accumulates than the elephants remove, the waterhole’s fate is sealed. Each year it is smaller and shallower. Eventually, succession triumphs and dense grass and bush show where there was once a waterhole.

However, as long as there are elephants roaming across Tsavo, one day a family will stop on the site of an old termite mound. They’ll roll and walk away covered in mud – and a waterhole will be born once again.

Team

Written and directed by Mark Deeble & Victoria Stone
Executive producers Ivo Filatsch, Sabine Holzer
Production companies A co-production of Waterhole Films Ltd, Terra Mater Studios, NHK, The WNET Group in association with PBS and CPB

Awards & Recognitions

Deauville, France Deauville Green Awards Silver Trophy (Category: Fight and Adaptation to Climate Change) 2024
Jackson Hole, USA Jackson Wild Media Awards Winner (Category: Ecosystem - Long Form) 2023
Cannes, France Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards Gold Dolphin (Category: Nature & Wildlife) 2023
Cannes, France Cannes Corporate Media & TV Awards White Dolphin (Best Documentary) 2023
New York, USA New York Festivals TV & Film Awards Gold Award Episode 01 (Category: Documentary: Nature & Wildlife) 2023
New York, USA New York Festivals TV & Film Awards Gold Award Episode 01 (Category: Craft: Films/Productions: Writing) 2023
New York, USA New York Festivals TV & Film Awards Gold Award Episode 02 (Category: Documentary: Nature & Wildlife) 2023
New York, USA New York Festivals TV & Film Awards Silver Award Episode 02 (Category: Craft: Films/Productions: Writing) 2023
Nevada City, USA Wild & Scenic Film Festival Winner (Category: Best Kid's Film) 2023
Jackson Hole, USA Jackson Wild Media Awards Finalist (Category: Animal Behavior - Long Form) - Feature Version 2023
Jackson Hole, USA Jackson Wild Media Awards Finalist (Category: Feature) - Feature Version 2023
Jackson Hole, USA Jackson Wild Media Awards Finalist (Category: Writing) - Feature Version 2023
Innsbruck, Austria Innsbruck Nature Film Festival Nomination Episode 01 2023
Rotterdam, Netherlands WFFR - Wildlife Film Festival Rotterdam Nomination Episode 02 2023
Namur, Belgium FINN - Festival International Nature Namur Official Selection Episode 01 2023
New York, USA New York Festivals TV & Film Awards Shortlist Episode 02 (Category: Craft: Films/Productions: Cinematography) 2023
Ludwigsburg, Germany NaturVision Filmfestival Nomination Episode 02 (Category: NaturVision Film Music Award) 2023
Pamhagen, Austria Jackson Wild Media Awards Winner (Category: Writing) 2022
Eckernförde, Germany Green Screen - Internationales Naturfilmfestival Eckernförde Winner (Category: Award of the Juvenile Jury) 2022
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