Article: Safari family

Sunday May 24, 2009

By MUMTAJ BEGUM

It's a family tradition of the Wolhuters to be close to nature.

THE children are our future – it's a fact that Emmy Award-winning wildlife filmmaker Kim Wolhuter is only too aware of. As a child he used to roam the vast, open African savannah with its gorgeous animals, tagging along with his father who was a game ranger at the Kruger National Park – the largest game reserve in South Africa. Before his father, Kim's grandfather had been the park's first game ranger.

Through those carefree days Kim grew to adore nature and animals. That love would lead the South African to his two passions – living in the bush and making films about wildlife – and considerable success as a documentary maker. His long list of achievements includes an Emmy Award for Stalking Leopards in 2003, and two other Emmys for Predators at War in 2006. His Hyenas at War was nominated for an Emmy in 2007.

Kim Wolhuter and his daughters helping to monitor the health of a rhino during a translocation operation at the Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve in Zimbabwe in 2007.

Now, Kim's daughters, Lindy, 11, and Penny, nine – who have been exposed to wildlife since they were babies! – share his deep love for the environment and animals. Every school break the girls will follow their father to the bush. While Kim documents wildlife, the sisters will hang around him learning about the flora and fauna of the area and efforts to conserve them.

It is a beautiful cycle of life.

The Wolhuters lead an undoubtedly unique lifestyle in Africa and one that most city folk can only dream about. That was what motivated Kim to share his family experiences with the world through Animal Planet. This collaboration resulted in a six-episode TV series titled Safari Sisters, which is currently showing on Astro Channel 556.

The Wolhuters bring to mind the late Australian conservationist Steve Irwin – also the son of wildlife experts – who famously featured his family on The Crocodile Hunter series he hosted on Animal Planet from 1997 to 2004. (Irwin died aged 44 in 2006 after being pierced by a stingray barb.)

Safari Sisters, meanwhile, chronicles the expeditions of Kim, Lindy and Penny as they venture into the bush for filming.

In the episode titled Leopard Love, viewers see the bond between the Wolhuters and a leopard named Tjololo, which Kim has spent many years filming. His daughters even wrote a song about this particular leopard.

In a recent e-mail interview with The Star from their home in South Africa, the 50-year-old Kim explained his motivation behind Safari Sisters: "I wanted a record of my kids growing up in the bush. We had a lot of fun out there, and I wanted to share it with the rest of the world and get other children interested in our natural world so they, too, could have a hand in protecting it."

Hello, hyena ... Penny playing with the hyena cub she calls Scratchy at the Mala Mala Reserve in South Africa in 2005.

Given that children and animals are two of the most unpredictable subjects and are a potent combination when put together, how did Kim handle both?

Though Kim said he never worried about things getting out of hand, he did shoot the more dangerous scenes without his children around. To him, it all comes down to understanding animal behaviour and anticipating what they are going to do. That way, he maintained, danger can be avoided. It's also why he carries no weapons with him. "It's just relying fully on my knowledge of animal behaviour," he added.

In the same e-mail interview, Penny said she never felt that she was in any danger when she was out filming Safari Sisters. Lindy, on the other hand, was a tad shaken when a bull elephant charged at her.

As can be seen in the second episode titled Elephantophobia, Lindy developed a phobia after the incident. To help her overcome her fear of these otherwise gentle giants, Kim introduces the girls to the elephants that live at the Malilangwe Wildlife Reserve in Zimbabwe. Here, Lindy falls in love with a baby elephant she and her sister named Chipfongwe or Little Bully.

Despite their amazing adventures with their dad, the girls lead normal and busy lives with their mother in a town which is a 12-hour drive away from the bush. They go to school and practise rhythmic gymnastics with utmost dedication. Like many gals their age, both have lofty and glamorous ambitions.

Start 'em young ... the 'Safari sisters' watching wild dogs at the Mala Mala reserve in 2003.

Lindy confessed that she hopes to be a ballet and gymnastics coach one day (after she's become an Olympic gymnast and a ballet performer, that is!). The younger Penny, meanwhile, wants to be "an actress and an Olympic gymnast".

At the same time, both aspire to be wildlife filmmakers like Dad!

For now the siblings are basking in the limelight as stars of Safari Sisters. Intrigued by what they have done, their schoolmates want to follow Lindy and Penny to see the wild animals up close and personal.

The girls revealed: "They want to see what we see, sleep out on the back of an open vehicle, play in the mud, and swim in the river."

In episode five, Rhino Return, Kim, Lindy and Penny learn to track rhinos from an experienced scout. They also participate in rhino translocation. During the capture operations, they have to monitor the health of the animals. All this is part of a valuable, personal experience to help protect the African rhinos.

One of the most remarkable things that Lindy witnessed through Safari Sisters was the birthing of wild animals like zebras and giraffes. "I got to see animal behaviour that most people have never seen up close, like how they kill and mate, and how wild dogs behave," she said.

For Penny, the highlight was when she managed to touch a hyena, an animal she likes. Naturally, her favourite is episode four: Hyena Affair. "My first memory of getting close to any animal was a hyena and I grew to know Scratchy and Nibbles very well. They are like friends," she added.

Scratchy and Nibbles, by the way, belong to a family of hyenas that Kim introduced to his daughters while filming the animal. For years, Kim has been trying to show the world there is more to hyenas than their predatory skills and brute strength.

Through the girls' interaction with the hyena family, viewers may discover that the dog-like wild animal is an incredibly adaptable and intelligent social carnivore.

While Penny (the "aspiring actress") doesn't mind appearing in her father's future documentaries, Lindy isn't so sure as she is not too fond of being filmed. "Also, we are all grown up now so people may not like to see us anymore," Lindy lamented.

Both, however, concurred that their involvement in Safari Sisters has taught them not only about animal behaviour and their habitats, but more importantly, to appreciate them. "Humans have to take care of these creations; it is our responsibility to make sure the animals do not become extinct," they declared.

As for Kim, he regards the time spent with his two daughters in the bush as very special. "Something not even I did as a kid – spending so much time with my dad in the bush," he quipped.

To the naturalist, preserving the animals is just as important as protecting the children for our future.

Hence, with Safari Sisters, Kim has this hope: "I really just want people to enjoy the show and see how wonderful our wildlife is, and that it is something that we should all be conserving for future generations. I know we are lucky to live the life we lead, but I hope Safari Sisters can at least bring a little of our fun back to all those around the world who don't have access to what we're able to do. And remember to always respect wildlife."

'Safari Sisters' premiered on Animal Planet (Astro Channel 556) on May 16 and airs every Saturday at 5pm. Encores are on Sundays at midnight and 9am.

This article was taken from: The Star Online: Entertainment: Tv & Radio: News & Features 24 May 2009