[.ca] National Geo.:Zebras:Patterns (ISBN 6304476078)

From Amazon.com:
These wild horses of Africa make a 300-mile migration every year, braving a host of predators from lions to hyenas to gun-toting humans. It's no wonder narrator Brian Dennehy describes this journey as a "gauntlet of death" in this 50-minute installment of the famed National Geographic series. Beautifully shot in Botswana by husband and wife team Dereck and Beverly Joubert, the documentary focuses on zebra family life--which centers around strictly organized kinship groups--and some of the unique ways this animal copes with the constant threat to life. For example, given a warning call from Dad, Mom can delay giving birth for hours. From floodplain to forest, the cameras follow these striped creatures during day and night, birth and death, wrapping up with a chilling statistic that reminds us how humans can be the most lethal predators of all. --Kimberly Heinrichs

Nothing out of the ordinary:
OK if, like me, you don't know of any better documentaries available - but it's not "a classic".

Excellent Documentary:
This film does an excellent job on documenting the migration and dangers of the Zebra in Southern Africa. National Geographic does an outstanding job with this tape of living up to the standards that they set on nature documentaries. With the help of movies such as these, hopefully we will be moved to save these animals before they die off.

Beautiful and educating - a classic!:
This is one of the best African Wildlife National Geographic Videos. The video is well made, as most Natl Geographic Videos are, and is organized by following the great zebra migrations. Interesting facts about social strucure, group dynamics, role of bachelor males, etc make this an instant classis. Highly recommended!!

Another masterpiece from Jouberts!:
I would like to give praise to "Zebra: Patterns in the Grass" nature documentary. The footage shot in Northern Botswana by husband and wife, Derek and Beverly Joubert, is an example of a mature work. It describes the 300-mile zebra migration from Lynianti region to Savuti and back. The documentary focuses on all expects of zebra's life, the birth, herd structure and individual zebra status within a family group, migration difficulties, stallion responsibilities and interactions with others, relationship of a mother and a foul and death. The amazing footage combined with excellent narration really creates an interesting drama of zebra's life set in and around the ancient migration routes in this beautiful but unforgiving region. We experience the crucial first hours of a newly born zebra foul during which the mother tries to hide from her new baby any other zebra's form but her own in order to imprint her unique stripe pattern, which will play the most important part in identifying the mother. This behavior cannot guarantee the survival of the foul since there are many other dangers in the young foul's life, such as high mortality rate from such predators as hyenas and lions, which abound in Savuti march. We are present on numerous hunts of these striped horses by the lions, the pressure of which finally push the zebra herds to move on from Savuti. On route to Lynianti there are nomadic lions following the herds in hope of a meal, as well as men who are in pursuit of the zebra's skin leaving the rest to the scavengers. In the midst of this we experience the drama of everyday life in the zebra society including the great footage of the stallions fight for a mare. The Jouberts manage to bring a viewer a world hidden from the eyes of humans. The story almost makes a viewer to experience the sights and smells of wild Africa while conveying a powerful message about our impact on the natural world in that wild place. It is one of the best nature documentaries to date and I recommend this video to anyone interested in wildlife. It has great footage as well as great story. Great job Derek and Beverly! Definitely worth five stars!