Saving wildlife? I'll drink to that

MUCH like humans tend to meet at the pub, animals like to gather at their own drinking establishments. But it’s a far more wondrous sight to behold...

- Sara Wallis

Waterhole: Africa’s Animal Oasis on BBC Two on Friday was a stunning insight into the behaviour of some iconic species, thanks to a touch of – dare I say it – cheating.

Naturalist Chris Packham and biologist Ella Al-Shamahi joined a team that arrived in the Mwiba Wildlife Reserve in Tanzania and built the first man-made waterhole with a specialist camera rig.

The sudden arrival of this half-submerged, weatherproof hideaway with cameras filming 24/7 isn’t quite natural history in motion but the results were extraordinary.

To misquote that famous Kevin Costner movie: “If you build it, they will come.”