TRAVEL PODCAST | Three years with a pack of African wild dogs

The makers of Dynasties, BBC's five-part series on the epic lives of five animal families, spent years filming with the African wild dogs in the Mana Pools National Park in Zimbabwe — and saw things that have never been seen before.

Painted Wolves, one episode in the series narrated by David Attenborough, follows the story of a family of African wild dogs as they battle a rival pack for territory and food on a wide floodplain along the Zambezi River.

The crew spent weeks at a time in the park, going out day and night to spend time with the dogs. They faced daunting challenges — extreme heat, enervating humidity, lots and lots of punctures, and long days away from camp looking for the animals and seeing nothing.

On their second, month-long visit to the park, the crew saw the dogs just twice.

All that time on the ground resulted in an incredible payoff, however. The dogs soon grew accustomed to the presence of cameramen and drones, to the point that they were almost regarded as family, as director Nick Lyon was to find out to his astonishment.

The crew also witnessed behaviour that had never been seen before, such as the wild dogs starting to hunt baboons — a species they which they had previously given a wide berth, not least of all because baboons are fearsome fighters.

This family drama ends on a truly beautiful note as the dogs do something that has never before been heard. Listen on.