Africa is a BBC One/Discory Channel wildlife series which aired on the 2nd of January, 2013. The series looks at the lives of various creatures all over the continent of Africa. The series is made up of 6 episodes, each one running for approximately 1 hour. The very first episode featured a segment on the relationship between wild meerkats and the drongo bird. A DVD was released for Africa in February 2013.
Episode List[]
- Episode 1 - Kalahari
- Episode 2 - Savannah
- Episode 3 - Congo
- Episode 4 - Cape
- Episode 5 - Sahara
- Episode 6 - The Future
Meerkats[]
Meerkats were featured in the first episode titled Kalahari. The focus was on the relationship between meerkats and a species of bird called drongo. The drongo assisted meerkats by warning them of ariel danger. However, during a drought, the drongo gave a false alarm and stole a meerkat's dug-up prey. However, the second time the drongo gave an alarm the meerkats were not fooled and ignored it. To overcome this, the drongo mimiced the sentry meerkat's call, which the meerkat group could not ignore, and stole one of the forager's scorpions. In spite of the bird's decietefullness, it was said that it would be unwise to ignore the drongo altogetehr, as it gives honest protection throughout the rest of the year. In the long run both the bird and the meerkats benefitted.
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