‘Secrets of the Elephants’ Explores Communication & Conservation in Docuseries

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Elephants have a lot to say — and it’s much more complex than you might think. “You can hear them having conversations,” says Bob Poole, director of photography for National Geographic’s new, lushly filmed four-part docuseries, Secrets of the Elephants. “They make decisions about which way to go, for example. It’s fascinating.”

Some of their talk is even too low for the human ear to grasp because “their really deep bass sounds can penetrate the ground and travel,” Poole explains. “So elephants are able to communicate with each other over long distances in frequencies that we can’t hear.”

(Credit: Arwai Tang/Getty Images)

Those are just a few of the amazing revelations covered in the show narrated by actress Natalie Portman and featuring the passionate insights of conservationist and elephant expert Dr. Paula Kahumbu and elephant researcher Dr. Joyce Poole (Bob’s sister).

The teams tracked the large mammals across Africa and Asia to gain a better understanding of these remarkable creatures and how they use communication to survive. The first episode examines the difficult conditions faced in the Namib Desert in Namibia — or, as Portman describes it in her narration, “what might be the toughest place on Earth to be an elephant.” Life for them was already hard and the shifting climate has exacerbated that, so much so that just 150 desert elephants remain today.

In a stroke of luck, though, one more was added to their number while Poole and his team were filming — the first time a desert elephant birth has ever been captured on film. “It was all very dramatic,” Poole recounts of the moment. “There’s been a horrible drought, and all the babies that had been born had died.” Miraculously, this calf, a female, lived. What’s more — soon after her birth, the herd enjoyed a rainstorm for the first time in eight years.

Secrets of the Elephants, Series Premiere, Saturday, April 22, Disney+

This is an expanded version of the article from TV Insider Magazine’s April issue. For more in-depth, reported coverage devoted to streaming shows from the publishers of TV Guide Magazine, pick up the April issue, currently on newsstands or purchase it online here. You can also subscribe to TV Insider Magazine here now.