Catching Giants

Support for the program was provided by: Dr Don Davison Mike Waddell and the New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce Darts in.

Dart is in the cow with the six month old bull calf.

Up until a couple of years ago, giraffe were considered least concern.

It's just not true.

You probably didn't know it, but giraffes are in grave danger.

There's so much were still learning about giraffe.

It's called a silent extinction.

Almost half of Africa's giraffes have disappeared in the last 30 years.

All good.

All good.

So scientists are racing to save the last remaining giants.

We're working with males for the first time.

If this was going to be easy People would have done it before.

Oh, no no no no.

Watch out!

No one has captured an collared male giraffes before.

And the team isnt after just one.

They're going for 20.

One kick of a giraffe can kill you.

Is she still alive?

Hes 100% awake.

Can these scientists emerge unscathed as they save the giraffes.

One more chance... Maybe.

Get back, get back, get back.

Come on lady!

Honestly.

catching giants is dangerous.

There is so much We still need to know about giraffe and still learning about giraffe.

Doctor Francois Deacon studies giraffes.

He's using drone technology to study how they move through their changing habitat.

How a 20ft tall, one and a half ton giant glides across the savanna.

But his research is showing more than just how they run.

It's far more urgent.

It's showing that giraffes are running out of time.

What adds to this project.

is the bigger picture we see in Africa.

The giraffe numbers declining.

Francois is one of the world's leading giraffe researchers.

After growing up in the bush.

He's now a leading voice trying to save this animal across Africa.

I'm just an ordinary young farmer.

I never really thought that whatever I'm going to do with giraffe will be so big.

I'm blown away by the enormous presence Giraffes have brought in my own life.

I could easily get emotional about it.

The crisis for giraffes is that they're surrounded by people.

Poaching, habitat loss and climate change have crush populations across Africa, leaving certain giraffes down as much as 97%.

And in 2016, scientists were successful in reclassifying giraffes from least concern to endangered.

The world knows giraffe is in danger.

Maybe we've underestimated the problem.

But the next question is, who's doing anything about it?

Giraffe are an umbrella species.

Protecting giraffe protect a lot of habitats.

If the giraffe were to disappear, then we might also find a lot of the plants disappearing.

So there's an economy of nature that's involved.

And removing giraffes will upset that balance.

For too long, we've only focused on just the animal.

We don't understand what the needs are for the animal.

Francois holistic approach to research has led them down a path to undertake the most ambitious project of his career, to capture, collar, and study 20 wild giraffes, more than anyone has ever attempted at one time.

Francois is also aiming to be the first to capture the titanic male giraffe.

These giants are bigger than the females and drastically harder to capture, collar, and keep alive.

But... the reality is, 20 giraffes is, is very high risk its very bold to try and attempt that even and working with the males i obviously adding to the stress they are the risky ones At least the South African population is a healthy one.

It's going to cover so muc unaddressed research questions Look at the diversity of habitat.

It's enormous.

It's big.

44,000 hectares.

There's very few places that can claim that.

So about how many giraffe, does anybody know, are in the reserve?

There is 63.

So we'll take down 20; 10 adult males and 10 adult females.

Nobody knows enough about giraffe Theres no question the population of giraffe across Africa have plummeted in the last 15-20 years Along with a lot of other wildlife.

But unlike other wildlife, not a lot is known about giraffe.

There still remains a massive black hole Within the conservation and scientific understanding of what a giraffe is.

And what it takes to conserve them.

If you dont know about it then you cant conserve it And this is what this project is attempting to achieve.

I hav big concerns for this project.

As important as giraffe conservation is worldwide and as important as it is to collect all this information, No giraffe is expendable.

The possibility is really big that we're going to... I don't want to say it, but kill a giraffe, just to think about it is a horrible thing.

And, up until now, we've been successful, 100% successful, haven't killed or injured even any giraffe.

But taking on such an amount of animals all at one time, there could be sick individuals that we, we think look healthy and they could have a lung disease, or they could be full of parasites and they just won't stand up.

Losing a giraffe is a big possibility.

So Rooipoort is the ideal study site in multiple ways.

I can tell you now from the PhD which areas I know they're going to highly favor and which ones they're going to avoid, actually.

Whats cooking?

Hi guys.

Sorry to interrupt.

Can we get the fire started?

I think it's time for-- I think it's beer oclock?

Beer oclock!

(laughing) Because this mission is so unprecedented Francois has assembled an elite team of scientists and veterinarians who understand giraffe and understand the risks.

Taken on the task of tackling the male giraffe on this expedition, as opposed to just the females, brings a whole new ballgame.

These are incredibly powerful animals.

One, kick from a male giraffe and it's over.

Bull giraffes.

Very strong.

Viciously strong.

That's what they are.

Willem Daffu is surely the most pivotal guy in this whole project, being the main vet making the ground decisions.

I can't work with anyone else.

than Willem Daffue.

--I look up him very, very much.

He's experienced, an amazing vet.

--Brilliant veterinarian.

He's dedicated.

He's got lots of experience.

Like an untamable man from Africa.

That's how I would describe Willem Daffue.

(laughs) Oh.

With a sense of humor like no one else on earth.

People like William Daffue, come with a phenomenal reputation.

And he's the man I'm looking at with Francois together.

I'm looking at these two, and I'm following exactly what they want me to do.

So my work is very simple.

It's just to get them down.

Is the cost benefit ratio Correct.

That's alway what you have to ask yourself.

If we give ourselves the right to manipulate an animal, then we better make sure that what we are doing to that wild animal is going to benefit that animal.

Or the species in general.

Doctor Daffue often gets emergency calls to treat sick or injured giraffes.

During an unusually cold spell in South Africa.

He wastes little time in trying to save an old female's life.

Giraffes aere definitely one of the most difficult.

Firstly because they are awkward animals to work with Theyre strong.

Theyre big.

Then the anatomy because of the breathing is a problem.

These long necks.

And then they die.

They just die.

You need to do wake them up immediately.

And then you sit with a very strong animal, fully awake.

The old female had not been seen eating in several days, and a bacterial infectio was thought to be the culprit.

So a dose of antibiotics was administered in hopes that the old girl could survive the cold.

But th rest of Africa is a sad story.

I mean, I've been in parks now that I, 30 years ago, took photographs of giraffes, and now theres Nothing.

You know, it's.

Nowhere a good story.

Any wild animal anesthesia is always a risk.

Doctor Corbus Raath, is probably the most well known wildlife vet there is globally.

The fact that Francois has done so many giraffes up to this point and haven't lost one is very good planning, and unless you get the planning 100% right then you are going to run into problems, when we are working with free ranging animals, we will go for a potent opioid drug.

The disadvantage of this medicine is that then we will get respiratory depression.

So because we get respiratory depression, once we have the animal on the ground, we have to reverse it again.

Almost a case of overdosing the animal, getting it down fast and then reversing it.

So once the dart is in, the first thing normally is the head goes a little bit backwards and the animals change their gate.

And then the interesting thing comes to judge, you know, when are you going to send people out to help this giraffe with a controlled fall?

Yeah.

If you are going too early, you're going to be running for a long time.

Oh, she's too strong.

If you go too late, the animal may fall by himself.

He's down!

--And it can stumble into ditches.

You know, it can fall in water.

Not the water, not in the water!

So these things can happen.

--Yeah or a drainage line Or a rocky area or dense bush.

Get her outta the bush!

Unfortunately, yes.

It's a high risk animal.

It's a high risk for the animal.

It's high risk for the people.

And as long as the human population increases at the rate that it does, the habitat areas will becom less and less, and thats a fact And I don't think a lot of people realize the massive declin that there are all over Africa in the giraffe numbers.

We're going to wake up almost when it's too late if we don't start doing something about it, now.

Martin Haupt, is one of the unsung heroes of conservation.

After designing collars for the majority of Africa's animals.

Martin Haupt teamed up with Francois to develop the first specialized GPS collars for giraffes.

So when you're putting an animal down and Putting it at risk like this, which we are.

--Yeah.

I think you should collect as much data as possible.

We know nothing about male social behavior, and that's where the collar fits in.

GPS collars reveal ho giraffes use their environment and how they interact with each other.

But until now, no males have been collared, so their lives remain a mystery to scientists.

We are trying to figure out how testosterone and hormone levels and age groups are going to play a big role, how males move in between different herds.

What drives males to roam in between herds is also what makes them so hard to capture.

Testosterone.

But as their numbers crash, Francois adopts a desperate new approach -- to ensure giraffes long term survival, he must safeguard their genetics.

What were attempting in this project has never been done before.

Semen has never been collected from a free ranging giraffe, always only in zoos and in under controlled environments with captive populations.

So capturing male giraffes will not only yield unprecedented data.

If the team is successful, they'll collect first ever semen samples from wild giraffe.

But Francois knows he's entering completely new and unknown territory.

Maybe there's not enough suitable individuals to be collared, that we'll have to deal with.

Maybe we're only going to collar 12 giraffe and not 20, or 15.

We'll see.

We'll see.

Be careful.

In a couple of years time, I can't wait to take them with me to the field and make them fall in love with nature as much as I did.

If we don't have fun and enjoy what we're doing, why do it?

And I'm a family man over and over, and I do think they will be proud.

Morning, everyone.

It's morning.

Morning.

This is it.

So, you're good?

Did you sleep well.

Ready?

Okay, so this is it.

Wesley, would you mind giving us just a team prayer?

Just before we leave?

Rooipoort is one of South Africa's oldest and largest private game reserves.

Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa.

Exposed to both animals and the elements.

Over the next four days, this international team of 20 will call this rugged landscape home.

If you want to work with giraffes, Francois is it.

He is so passionate that I think it draws people from all over the world to giraffe.

We as students look up.

o him and everyone gets excited when he gets excited.

It's going to record the rainfall data, the wind data and the humidity data.

So basically they want to correlate some behaviors with the weather data.

Yes, weve got it.

--Its in.

Okay good.

If it wasn't for Francois wouldn't be where I was today.

So if you say no we cant do something, hes like no, you can do it and you need to find a way to do it.

He kind of doesn't see the bad side of things.

What I want to know is that we all go to where we have, uh, A more or less model, giraffe.

So that we quickly can go through all the vitals.

Who is where.

Then we will, replicate The capture process.

You can only plan 50% being in Africa.

And the rest, you just deal with While this mock up may look comical, the discussion is quite serious.

To collar the more powerful male giraffe, the team must have their plan down 100%.

We will be close by somewhere The helicopter will stay on top of the giraffe.

So that we know exactly where we are.

Then the capture team, me and Jaco will be running with the ropes as soon as the drugs -- lift youre head, youre-- Okay, y'all can cross.

Cross.

Okay.

Kicking.

Kicking.

Okay.

Help!

Help!

Help!

Watch the legs.

Watch the legs.

That's too close.

That's too close.

Immediately on the neck.

As quick as possible.

That stretcher will come in.

So the collar team will start fitting the collar.

One vet will come down here, take the blood samples.

And then, obviously, if there is milk Prof Gary, theres your teets.

You go in and you take your milk And if you lucky, Ilse, that's your part.

So you take care of that.

Make sense?

It's a little overwhelming to try and tackle something so big.

Obviously the entire team and every team member is putting their own lives at risk, and it could be very dangerous situation at any time.

But as dawn breaks, there is no turning back.

All the months of planning and preparation have led to this point, and the team prepares to head off into the unknown.

Okay.

Thank you Zakkie.

Jamie, this should go onto vehicle to--where is the other, map, the normal copy?

As team members prepare the vehicles.

Francois tells the helicopter to stay on the ground.

Because then we are all on the same page.

The helicopter has three jobs.

Locate the giraffe, bring the shooter in and keep the giraffe in the open for safe capture.

But Francois is on a budget.

Once he runs out of flight time, the project is over.

The pilot says he will give us a 15 minute head-start.

So let's get on.

Let's go catch some giants, fellas With the safety of both giraffes and people at stake.

Every member of the team is understandably anxious.

So there's always in the back of your mind that there's the risk of losing a giraffe.

And that is, as a conservationist, a scientist, I think that's the last thing I do want to see is through your actions, a giraffe dies.

As the helicopter spots their first giraffe.

The team goes on alert.

As a warm up for capturing the males Francois decides to collar a female first.

Attempting to capture a female is much safer and more predictable Than a male.

Pilot said, take the time.

Dart is in.

Honestly, catching giants is a dangerous game.

The team records the time as the stopwatch begins.

There, see, close to the road.

They will have just 17 minutes before they need to revive her.

You can go closer.

17 minutes to capture, collect all their data and then get her back on her feet.

This way.

Just wait Three minutes.

Getting his team to the draft before she goes down is now Francois main concern.

Okay Showing signs at four minutes.

Ok, shes standing still up.

Go go go go go go go go.

To get there, we need to get.

There we go, there we go, shes down!

Move!

Let's go go go go go go go.

It's not an ideal situation.

The giraffe has gone down in a dense, thorny thicket.

The capture team must quickly free her massive body before the data collectors can get to work.

1, 2, 3!

1, 2, 3!

On it!

Okay.

Fred Where are we on the ticket?

Okay, so from the top, Where is the collar?

Martin attaches the first GPS collar so they can monitor this giraffe's movements Shawn, you ok?

This is critical to make sure the giraffe is healthy, but also to lear how much terrain giraffes need in order to survive.

First blood sample.

Well done.

Because to save a species, you must preserve enough habitat to let the animals thrive.

Not pregnant, good.

14, Francois.

So you can see, the layers and then you can se the nutrition over a time period Okay.

So I want to get wrapped up in the next three minutes.

So try and get done.

To clear a path for the safe return to her feet.

The team must continue to remove the black thorn bush from around the giraffe.

Black thorns have incredibly sharp hooks which can rip clothes or tear skin.

Okay, we need to wrap up, one minute!

Her breathing suddenly goes shallow.

Willem, she is breathing slowly.

Francois knows they're out of time.

They have to revive the giraffe immediately.

We all have to push up.

Ready?

Go go go.

Push, push, push!

Ok.

Stand away.

Stand away.

(clapping) Alright!

Stop the time So that was great.

A few hiccups in the beginning.

Just everybody sorting out their places.

But I think now we have it.

Okay, that's good news.

Cow and mother has been reunited.

Not ideal.

And we have to use a second dart We don't know what went wrong with the first one.

Francois is pleased with the first capture, but there are still kinks to work out.

Get ready --Before going after any males.

Every task must be committed to muscle memory.

Let's go.

Theyre with the second herd, so get on the vehicles.

Focus, dart is in!

Down at five and a half.

Beware of the hooves!

Watch it, watch watch!

Pilot has located a new herd close by.

No, not there, not there, you donut.

That side, pull that side.

Those who are on the neck need to help.

Lift the neck.

Watch out, watch out!

Nice dive.

And you bring back one cake!

Anyone for a muffin?

Darts in.

(snoring) Cheers mate!

After successfully capturing four females, it's time to turn their sights on the males.

If they're lucky, it will be the first time in history that anyone has captured and collared a wild male giraffe.

Is it a male?

A male.

--A male?

So we're going to try and get a bull now.

Do you guys have the stopwatches ready?

The chopper has spotted a 17ft tall male weighing in at an estimated 2,200 pounds.

With six foot long legs.

of iron muscle He can run at speeds of up to 37 miles an hour.

Okay, they're going in.

Dart is in.

Hold on.

I'll make the call.

I'll make the call.

Go go go go go.

Get in, get in.

Hold on everyone.

Hold on.

Willem Daffue is there.

This is the first time a male giraffe has been captured for science.

And no one knows how he'll respond.

Get in, get in.

First male of the day.

I--first male, ever.

So this is, this is quite something.

We're actually gonna do the semen sampling as well.

That's the first ever from a wild giraffe.

The team switches gears as Ilse takes over, because no one has ever captured a free ranging male giraffe before.

We're now in uncharted territory.

This is the procedure that we use.

Electro-ejaculation.

We put a probe into the rectum.

Then put some electric current through it until we have a spontaneous ejaculation.

Are you ready?

Hes not going to like it-- ...He might like.

He might!

Unlike other animals, that can be worked on while fully sedated.

Giraffe physiology is so delicate that once they're down, they must be immediately given an antidote.

Hes 100% awake.

Remember that.

Watch out!

Hold on!

Usually when I collect semen from an animal, I'm sitting in between the legs.

With this project I had to completely change this approach, because once I saw those legs kicking, I said, there's no way I could do this.

The breathing is so nice.

He's getting relaxed now.

What were attempting, has never been done before.

It's much easier collecting the sperm than taking a whole animal out of the wild and putting it into another population.

So the idea is to be able to collect semen, which is the genetics of a wild, free roaming, disease -free giraffe, (which) offer the opportunity to reintroduce into captive populations, because this is where the need now is the highest.

Do you know what that is?

That's the very first sample ever from a wild giraffe.

It's unheard of.

Its first of its kind.

It's very cool.

Ilse, just remember this bull follow you from now on.

(Laughing) So wrong.

Boys, boys, boys.

Help Help Okay now push!

Feet, feet, feet!

The male gallops away perfectly healthy.

They still have nine more males to go, but as of this moment, the team has made scientific history.

Making history.

I'm telling you now, we can at least we have a sample size of one, which is more than anybody else in the world.

So let's go go go go.

Lets go, darts in guys.

No time is wasted as the next female is darted.

Okay, don't, shes coming down Go go go go go go go!

The team's goal was to capture ten males and ten females, so collaring this giraffe is an essential part of their research.

Go!

Run run run run!

But right away, things start to unravel.

No matter how much planning you do in the bush, there's always going to be something that trips you up.

And we're not going to always manage to get the giraffe in a really open plain.

Unable to free her from the bush, Francois shouts for the entire team to help move this giraffe.

Some will have to push up from the bottom Well have to lift her, ok.

-Yes, just pull.

One, two, three, go!

The clock is ticking on this sedated girl.

They need to work fast.

Where's the cruiser?

Bring a cruiser.

Using the Land Cruiser is now their only option.

Only the hind legs will actually be pulled with the cruiser Francois has never lost a giraffe, and he's not about to lose this one.

Go, go.

Turn it, turn the neck!

Turn the neck!

okay.

All the drugs are in.

The whole procedure can take place.

Check the head stretcher is on Everyone get to your spots, please.

Okay.

Oh, cool.

Thanks to many months of planning for the unexpected, the team was able to respond quickly to what could have been a serious situation for this giraffe.

After a history making first morning, the team makes for camp to test the samples.

They've managed to collect.

A confirmation of their success would be groundbreaking.

If the sperm is active.

This is a landmark moment in giraffe conservation.

At the most basic level, sperm carries a raw genetic material of every giraffe, with their population down 40%, and the fact that giraffes routinely die during relocations, collecting sperm is the safest way to protect the species long term genetic health.

The news is not good.

The semen collected isn't viable.

Francois is clearly disappointed by the setback, but it only strengthen the team's resolve to get back in the wild and try again.

After hours of searching, sunset approaches and there are no signs of more males.

They choose to dart one last female, their 11th overall.

Last one for the day.

Number eleven.

Unfortunately for the team, number 11 is a large, feisty female, whose showing no signs of slowing down.

Are you ready?

All teams ready.

There's a road going here to the right.

That'll help us a lot Is the drugs taking any effect.

Can you see it?

Showing no effects from the drugs.

Willem fires a second dart.

Okay, I've got a visual right in front of the helicopter.

And then.

Without warning, she suddenly falls to the ground.

Four thirty.

Breathing is normal.

(Struggling) one more on the body, please.

As they finish collecting their data.

Francois doesn't like the direction the giraffe is in.

Upon standing, she would be oriented to run across a shallow ditch and may hurt herself.

Hold on, hold on, hold on, hold on.

Okay, this is going to be a tricky part because we don't want her to be going through that --dish.

Awk!

Ditch!

I think if we can steer more in that direction and trying actually that direction.

Okay.

Everyone ready?

We're leaving in five, four, three.

There go go go go.

(yelling) Wow, she almost trampled them!

Oh wow!

You had a close encounter today with the female we did.

There was a ditch on the one side that we, we really wanted to avoid for her to run into that ditch.

So we tried to manipulate that situation.

So we had people standing there.

And on the other side, the Land Cruisers was waiting there so the giraffe doesn't run into one of the blades or the helicopter, so basically it coul only escape in two directions.

We pushed her up and she ran straight back at us.

These feet were huge.

She raised their legs really high.

I dread to think exactly how close that was.

Most animals, you only expect them to to buck up or to kick at the back.

But with giraffe, they kick in the front while running.

So it's incredibly dangerous and you don't see it coming.

That was one of the most dangerous moments I've ever had.

Glad you are still alive.

(laughing) Collaring 11 giraffes in a single day is an incredible feat, but so far the males remain elusive and the females are feisty, meaning over the next three days, the team's success is far from assured.

Its in.

Day two begins much as day one ended.

There are no signs of males and the females are ornery.

This lady has no interest in playing along and the team quickly discovers why.

There it is going down.

Giraffe number 12 is carrying an extra passenger.

Come on.

Get back!

Over the last two days, the team has captured three males, but two were adolescents and not yet producing semen.

So an older, larger bull is their only option.

At 18 feet tall and 2,300 pounds this male is the biggest giraffe Francois team has ever captured.

Because day two's temperatures are quickly rising, the team must work swiftly t ensure the big males survival.

Water!

Careful, careful!

Hold it, hold it, hold it!

Watch out!

Hold it, hold it!

(yelling) Whoah, shoot.

Wait wait, watch it.

Watch, are you okay?

That's blackthorn.

I was helping to hold the legs down, and I was at the end of the rope, and I was backed up into a blackthorn bush.

But it just all happened so quickly that giraffe kicked and we were all tumbling.

We give you the time.

It's probably going to take another 15 minutes to get.

The sample we need.

So we need one more body here.

Please, on the hips.

The strength of this giraffe is a good sign.

Hopefully, Ilse is about to collect the world's first viable wild genetics from a male giraffe.

Here it comes, here it comes.

I mean, the penis is coming.

This is beautiful.

And hes ejaculating and Im missing it.

Please take a photo of this peni We saw the penis coming out the sheath, and you could actually see the first half of the penis.

It's like a little lip going forward.

That's brilliant.

They say with electro-ejaculation that they usually ejaculate within the sheath.

So for us today, to see the penis coming out was beautiful.

Help, help, help!

They're now 14 captures in and the team is riding high.

But spirits instantly change when this new giraffe heads into the impenetrable black thorn.

They've darted.

But the giraffe is very far away.

So looking for a road to get there.

We're surrounded by really, really big, nasty, aggressive black thorn and the vehicles.

No wa can we get through this stuff.

This is nasty.

We got lots and lots of rock termite mounds, and a dense bush It's a terrible situation.

The tranquilized giraffe is on the clock and needs to be revived soon.

The helicopter must unload Doctor Daffue, who has to wake the sleeping giant.

Now he has to hold this giraffe down and try to keep her alive completely on his own.

But every rock and stump the team drives over is another hazard looking to take out a tire or a transmission.

But timing now is getting critical.

He's done.

It's well on the three minutes we would normally expect to be trying to apply the antidote, and we simply can't get through.

And then the unthinkable happens.

Prof Nico has a puncture with one of the vehicles.

Can we pump it up?

With no other options Francois makes the final call.

No, no, its a safety call... All the vehicles Its a safety call.

They're going to wake the animal.

Safety call.

So we're not going.

We abandon this one.

She went into a very dense area, we couldn't get access.

So the helicopter, landed with William Daffue, and he just woke her up.

Now, and, she's gonna run off.

The animal safety must be number one.

Always.

We misjudged the distance from the cars there was thick bush as well.

Well, I waited, and sh stopped breathing.

Immediately started trying to reverse it.

But then she got very strong and I tried to keep her down, but eventually they said, no, were going to take too long.

Well, well.

Giraffe is up and running.

Everything is fine.

Exhausted and unable to locate any more giraffes at this time, the team heads back to camp to get caught up with their necessary scientific documentation.

Look at these little hooves, eh?

Which ones are that now?

But once again, all of the semen samples the team has worked to collect Failed to have any viable sperm in them.

It's heartbreaking news for Francois.

Sometimes when you collect semen within an hour, it's dead.

It means that the semen has no value.

Insemination occurs six hours after semen has been deposited.

We want the semen at least to stay alive 24 hours.

Especially when we do artificial insemination.

And then I know we have good quality semen.

It's now day three.

Only two days left to accomplish their mission.

Will this African giant be the one to reveal the secrets that just might save the species --Darts in!

Darts in.

Watch the clock.

Hold it!

Hold it!

Hold it!

Giraffes are not sexually mature until 4 or 5 years old.

And the few males they are finding are not old enough to produce semen.

Help, help, help!

And things go from bad to worse as there are no more males in sight.

So the team resorts to a tried and true strategy.

If you want to find the boys, go to where the girls are.

Okay, one of the AWT guys is getting on to the chopper with a telemetry, antennae, to try and find the colored females, which we collared yesterday.

Hopefully with the two females, they will be males.

It's difficult to find giraffes in the wild as big as they are Sometimes it's hard to find them.

But the clock is ticking and their time is quickly running out.

Reality set in now, despite the the highs of 11 giraffe on day one, this is becoming far more difficult.

We're running out of hours on the helicopter, and running out of funds.

They're starting to get actually critical.

Now it becomes tough because it's not locating different herds.

It's locating the lone bulls.

The nomadic bulls have to walk in between the different herds.

At 140,000 acres, Rooipoort is a massive reserve, but not so big they shouldn't have been able to locate the other males by now, leaving Francoi with a tough decision to make.

We got a back up collar for females.

So we're going to fit it while we know there's a female close by.

Any data is better than no data at all.

And go for one less male because we struggling and wasting a lot of time searching for males.

Least we know we can get this one done.

To make matters worse, the helicopters running low on fuel.

The next tranquilizer dart will have to be shot from the ground, meaning they'll have to shoot from further away, increasing the chance for a less than perfect shot.

This is the way we shoot out of the helicopter.

Now I will go to, to 5 because we're going to shoot at about 50m now.

we'll take off in front of you.

Yeah.

Between those trees, there's a giraffe.

They've got a visual on her, so.

But we've got to meet them down there.

Just like this, its okay.

No problem.

(dart sound) Right in front, right leg.

But now we must not lose her, eh?

Ok, darts in.

Go straight.

Straight, straight, straight!

Now go!

Now 12.

Now.

Okay.

Left, left.

Okay.

Shes down, shes down, shes down!

Go, go, go!

Go, go, go!

(electrical interference) Whoops, sorry, sorry.

Francois, Francois, come in?

Yeah, yeah.

Oh, boy.

After getting darted, the female giraffe ran farther away than expected, thereby losing the science collection team in the brush.

Careful careful.

Hold on!

Francois, Francois come in?

No fireworks?

Yes.

With only a few minutes lef before they need to revive her the scientists finally find their quarry.

The data collection team races to the giraffe.

2.9.

Okay, Its her first calf, shes young Seeing her with such a young calf, Allows them to collect the milk sample.

Woohoo, thats a lot!

A small amount could reveal even more about giraffe physiology.

Guys, we want her to move that way.

All right, let's get outta the rain!

The good fortune from days one and two seems to have disappeared.

Yeah.

From running low on helicopter fuel to a lack of males.

And now to weather, the team is facing some real struggles and the clock is ticking.

Some wet weather has moved i and it's quite cold and rainy.

It does make it quite hard to see giraffes from the back of the vehicles.

Things are happening a lot slower now because everybody's cold, like rain in the face.

On the back of a vehicle is not always the best thing, you know.

So it's raining cold.

We do not have support from the air.

It's becoming more difficult as time goes on.

Just as things are getting bleak, they catch a break.

Whos got binoculars, guys?

Its a male, yeah there's another one, 2 oclock.

Is that a male or a female?

Its a bull.

Chopper on its way.

There's another one.

Good.

Quickly check the other one there.

Watch at one oclock.

You get it?

It is another bull as well.

Two bulls Cois.

Well let's finish this business.

All the vehicle we've got visuals of two bulls waiting for the helicopter and now Yeah, I haven't caught them in the rain yet First time in the rain.

But the helicopter breaks the news.

The giraffes they spotted are females and not the bulls they need.

Now, Francois is facing a problem that could end the project entirely.

So we've got time to our hands Another day and a half, but we don't have enough flight hours.

We've covered it all.

What's it going to cost for another?

For an another hour, whats it c It's 8,500 rand.

How much?

750?

750 U.S.

Yeah.

Per hour.

So if we had that, we could have done another hour and locate the bulls and finish the job.

But, I mean, yeah.

I just don't have it.

So I cant afford for the helicopter to be in the air anymore.

We have to, we have to call it off, so-- Will this, well, will this end it?

We can't do it, by a car or anything else?

Not without the helicopter as a backup.

Do you think it makes sense to just.

Pass the hat around and say we need.

To come up with $750.

To everybody here?

We could, but more than half are students.

I don't know if you're gonna get to it.

So the decision in passing the hat would have to be?

Right now?

Now, it would have to be now.

While catching giants is a dangerous game, the biggest danger to giraffes overall could be a lack of money.

There is a shortage of funds right now.

We're basically out of money, enough to catch the Two bulls tonight.

Okay, so the Board of directors of Save the Giraffes has decided.

That we think the project is Really important to continue.

And so.

We will provide the Funds for two more hours of helicopter time.

And whether we use it tonight or tomorrow morning is up to you.

But we are committed to this project and it's a unanimous decision.

So you've got another two.

Hours of flight time to figure out what to do.

Yes!

Okay!

(celebration) I really thought we were done.

I made peace that, okay.

This is it.

It's final call.

Well the Save the Giraffes guys Heard me.

They announce that theyll Sponsor another two hours in the helicopter.

And that for me, at that time, I had to walk away because that kept the whole thing alive.

Save the giraffes.

This is it.

Let's do the last part.

Whats the big deal, guys?

Welcome to England.

(laughs) So, for the day, were gonna, were gonna hang the spurs up.

Tomorrow morning.

Repeat everything again.

So, yeah.

(thunder) The team follows a proven tactic.

Track down a collared female from the ground, save their chopper fuel, and hope she's keeping company with one or more males.

But unfortunately, this female doesn't have any suitors.

Yeah, it's the first female we collared, which we just saw on the app.

But there's no other giraffe with her.

Its is like finding a needle in a haystack.

This is not easy.

We've got a lot of eyes on the ground, and, clock's ticking.

I havent got long left, have I?

(laughing) Not a lot to waste, eh?

So the plan at this point is we're down to the wire.

The chopper actually can't do a survey, to let us know what's up.

So we're going to split the vehicles, cover the most important areas where we think the giraffes are at But fuel isn't their only problem.

Misfires from the dart gun have resulted in another shortfall.

We ran out of drugs so we can only do one more.

One more chance, maybe.

With their drug supplies all but depleted and their helicopter fuel nearly exhausted, the team is banking on this last ditch effort to locate one final male and the first ever sample of wild giraffe semen, and the data team just found what they've all been looking for.

Ed, Ed, come in?

--Tanya, look Now it's walking.

--With a giant giraffe.

Confirmed, the helicopter immediately takes off.

Now we see them.

They managed to spot a male giraffe without a collar.

Theyre bringing them this way.

Lets go catch our last big giant.

Eh?

Naomi aims her dart gun and squeezes the trigger.

The dart is in.

A little, little left, little left.

This giant giraffe is 20ft tall, 2,600 pounds, and can run nearly 40 miles an hour.

But there's no wa the team is going to lose him, succumbing to the effects of the drugs, the big male comes to a halt.

He's down.

It's okay.

Its okay.

Were going to run!

Jump, jump, jump!

Go!

There was a run.

Little more.

Good, good.

No, no, that's a good.

Like, a well-tuned orchestra.

The team works seamlessly to gather data on this last giant male.

Okay.

Can I have gauze?

I think gauze --Hold it, hold it!

Okay.

Everybody ready?

It's Ilses last chance.

A final opportunity to collect data to safeguard the species from extinction.

Whoa!

(laughing) Can I get a new tube, please?

Oh, yes.

It's the prettiest semen I've ever seen.

(laughing) (laughing) Oh, okay.

We gonna do one more for sure.

Okay, thats it, weve milked him dry.

Okay.

Finished.

It's important to note, collecting the sample isn't just about giraffe reproductive health.

It's about ensuring one of the planet's most charismatic and beloved species can survive in the wild.

Okay, let's give ourselves one minute for the collar guys to finish up.

Hey, everyone, get ready for the escape route.

Go go go go go!

Help help help help!

(celebration) Yeah.

It was beautiful.

Semen, much better.

I think we've got the technique down now.

With fresh samples in the cooler.

Ilse races back to the mobile lab.

She's going to test whether they're successful in collecting the world's first viable wild giraffe semen.

Nice.

Creamy.

This is what we've been collecting the previous days.

Yes, yes, yes.

This is it.

Yep.

Thanks to you.

Thanks to you, eh?

Super cool.

Yes!

If there was a little disappointment in this, is we didn't capture and collar 20 giraffe.

But that's only because we didn't find more males.

That's it.

We collared all the males that's in that population.

And 18 giraffes in three and a half days is mind boggling, Yeah!

It's science for good reason.

Its conservation.

And the potential for the future is massive.

We've got an enormous amount of data.

We can't even imagine the impact that it's going to have in the future for giraffe.

Really unexpected was the collection of sperm.

The semen collection could turn extinction of giraffe around.

If you think about it.

This semen collected in this project is new, fresh genetics.

We're going to be able to inject into all of these populations so that they are sustainable, long term and healthy.

It's like my wedding speech.

I can't thank all of you enough.

It's, it's been a tremendous trip for myself.

I've never had such an experience.

I wish I had this opportunity when I was a student.

(chokes up) I want you to fall in love with nature so that we can preserve what's left.

And if we don't make a difference, who's going to do it So I really want to thank you.

I can't say it over and over, but.

(clapping) So the reason why we're all here.

Is because of giraffe, and the big picture of conservation and how we fit as managers and scientists, as, As caretakers, as people that I have a love for giraffes to get together.

The big thing is: the story for giraffes is not over.

Giraffe are very much still endangered.

We all know now, the world knows, giraffe is in danger.

But the next step is what are we doing about it?

Support for the program was provided by: Dr Don Davison Mike Waddell and the New Braunfels Chamber of Commerce