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By Lydia Baines, Producer of Elephant, Dynasties II

Angelina had made the decision for us.

Choosing our family

The prospect of following a family of elephants over the course of two years was initially as daunting as it was exciting. Elephants are well known as wanderers that travel across vast distances and have no qualms in crossing swamps, mountain ranges and even international boundaries.

Out of all the elephant families in the world – which should we choose? Ideally, we were looking for a family that were both reliably found and at a potentially important turning point in their lives. To help, with these family auditions, we borrowed the expertise of world-renowned elephant scientist, Cynthia Moss. Her charity, the Amboseli Elephant Trust, has remarkably identified and named almost all 1,500 elephants in the Amboseli Ecosystem in Kenya.

The first family we started trying to follow were called the ‘FBs’, but after a week of scouring the savannah for them in vain, they seemed to have popped over the border into Tanzania and were in no hurry to come back.

We then started to follow two other families, the ‘GBs’ and the ‘EBs’, but both these groups seemed to be pottering along rather nicely and successfully, so may not have faced as many challenges as a group who perhaps weren't doing so well.

We then started looking into the ‘AAs’. This was the very first family that Cynthia came across when she started her work in Amboseli a remarkable 50 years ago. All the members of this family have names starting with A (confusing at first for a film crew), and in recent years, had been struggling to keep their calves alive. Missing a strong leader, they didn’t seem to have the cohesion needed to successfully raise their babies. The very first day we spent following this family, a large female with a backwards facing tusk led the charge against a pride of lions. She was clearly pregnant and was showing promising signs of leadership.

Angelina had made the decision for us. We just had to know if this strange looking, seemingly brave elephant could unite her family to help her bring up the baby she was carrying.

Although this family have been habituated over the years by the scientists, Angelina was not as friendly as some elephant in the park, and we made sure we always filmed her from a respectful distance. However, as the days and weeks went by, she not only got used to us being around, she even started to come and greet us most mornings – but it was always on her terms.

We knew we were properly welcomed into the family when she chased off some hyena who were getting close to our car – it felt a bit like she was being protective of us.

Getting to know the family was a wonderful experience, but it was a fairly uneventful time for the Dynasties film. After filming Angelina for months, she still hadn’t given birth, and the family seemed to be in a state of stasis. Angelina was huge, but I was starting to question whether we had chosen the right family for this episode. Was she even pregnant or had we just misread an incredibly large elephant? Things were moving slowly, and holding our nerve was becoming harder to do…

That is, until one day in February 2019, when Angelina finally gave birth. Her little son Atlas was tiny and absolutely wonderful. Elephants and humans alike were instantly besotted. This little fella was a new and much needed hope for the family, and this felt like a decisive moment for the film crew.

But on the fourth day of devotedly following Atlas, we were met with the surprise of a lifetime. Little Atlas had gained a sister. Angelina had had twins – born several days apart. This is the last thing we were expecting, and we couldn’t quite believe that this wonky tusked female that we had been following for months had been struck by such wonderful biological happenstance. After all - the only thing better than a baby elephant - is two baby elephants!

From this moment on, the story told itself. The challenges facing this already-struggling family in bringing up twins were enormous, and it truly became the epic challenge of a dynasty.

Sometimes the elephants would disappear for several days at a time. We would leave them at sunset walking off in one direction, and we would find them days later returning into the park from the opposite end. We kept a record of their movements over time but we were not able to find a regular pattern. Likely they were roaming depending on their current food and water needs, and communication with other elephants. One day we spent over 12 hours scouring the park for them, only to get back at nightfall to find Angelina standing outside our rooms!

There were many moments during the filming where the team were close to tears, had hearts racing, and we were desperately crossing our fingers and toes.

Watching the twins have so many close calls was, at times, excruciating. But the hardest time was the extended dry season. Watching the twins and all the other babies in the park get skinnier and skinnier, while the family tried their hardest to protect them. It was incredibly hard knowing we couldn’t intervene, as this was part of the natural cycle of things.

And then finally, one morning, the rain came. And when rain comes in Amboseli, it doens’t just rain – it pours. It was hard to tell whether this was more celebrated by the elephants or us. Suddenly full of energy and playfulness, the family were transformed overnight. Angelina had remarkably managed to get her twins through the drought, and to one year of age. A truly remarkable feat for a struggling family, who had so many trials and tribulations throughout that first year. It was an incredible journey, watching the lives of these wonderful elephants unfold.