Waterhole: Africa's Animal Oasis

In 2019 the Mwiba Wildlife Reserve and the BBC Natural History unit built a new water source in Tanzania with the dual aim of scientific observation and ecological experimentation. The source is bristling with cameras and observation zones and the series basically chronicles what happens when, in a rapidly drying world, a new bar opens.

Each episode is in a different "season" and is a bit of a jumbled narrative smorgasbord. Sometimes Packham and Al-Shamahi crouch in the tent, surrounded by nameless folk on laptops and talk about their lists - sometimes there's a bloke in a jeep - sometimes they get in a helicopter. As much as I found the idea of a nature documentary that "just sits still and counts animals" quite relaxing and slow TVish, it clearly doesn't feel this is enough and keeps trying to throw extra stuff at you to justify what is essentially a dry (wordplay) experiment being put on telly.

Still though, I do like a bit o' Packham, there's some remarkable footage in there - it's an interesting concept and I genuinely learnt a few solid facts but it would've been nice to get an idea of the engineering behind it too, to meet some of the team, and let the experiment unashamedly be the main focus.

To be able to observe at close range the daily and nightly survival of the wide variety of individual wildlife that depend on this very special manmade waterhole for survival is truly amazing this is a 5 star not to be missed television series well done BBC a great achievement

I was really impressed with the concept of constructing a water hole in an arid wildlife environment and then filming the wildlife that appears.

It was really enjoyable viewing and very educational and informative.

Great that they intend to leave the water hole for many years to come and not just clear the set as so many movie companies do after filming finishes.

I hope they leave a webcam so viewers can view the waterhole all over the world as they do with beach cam and various other locations.

I am unsure where the finance came from for all the tech involved and who if any were the sponsors and yes introducing the team would of been a great idea and not so ego-centric.

Overall I really enjoyed this valuable contribution to wildlife in Africa and look forward to more episodes.

I think the cloth tent is not offering the greatest protection to the filming crew, and certainly is to close to the water hole.

My thought is it would be great to build another waterhole with a 3-5 story high hotel next door, perhaps 50 to 60 feet away, somewhat rustic, but funded by tourists who would pay a lot to have a safe place to stay 2-5 stories in the air, with a rooftop deck dining area. The hotel should be built with the sun would be behind the building, and the building would cast a shadow on part of the pond mid-day. People could sit on balconies on the third and fourth floors, well above all the animals (except the birds). The walls should be built smooth enough that animals will not be able to climb the walls.

There should be a underground tunnel to a exit area, so the animals do not see a brick wall that is 75' long to the vehicle parking area. I agree that wind power is a great idea to power the local village for both water pumps and lights to prevent animals from going into the village at night. Windows would fold into the room to clean both sides, and can be taken out of the way to allow better camera shots.

Also a birdbath that is about 6 feet in the air. It would be great to water the tall animals and birds could watch from a safe distance!

Kitchen and access to a nearby blind would be in the basement.

Lost interest after 10 minutes but got worse as the show went on. I love wildlife programmes but this is so boring and uneventful, it's hard to believe. Get a torch and sit in your garden- it'll be better.