After an opening sequence introducing the series, the first episode looks at Africa's mountain ranges. First to be featured are the Ethiopian Highlands, the remains of a huge volcanic intrusion. Geladas survive in large groups on the cold grassy highlands and use facial expressions to resolve tensions without confrontation. Walia ibex clash horns on precipitous slopes, and Ethiopian wolves stalk grass rats and giant mole-rats. A pair of adult lammergeiers locks talons and tumbles through the air. Juvenile birds are shown practising the art of dropping bones from great heights onto rocks. In North Africa, Barbary macaques are filmed foraging in a snow-covered cedar forest in the Atlas Mountains. The Cape Highlands are Africa's oldest mountains. Their isolation and stable climate have enabled an entire plant kingdom to evolve. Over 7000 species make up the Fynbos, and many have developed unique relationships with pollinating insects and birds. The Rift Mountains of East Africa are active volcanoes, but their lives are short in geological terms. A sequence shows mountains of increasing age, from Lengai and Kilimanjaro to Mount Kenya and finally the weathered remnants of the Aberdare Range. Their mineral-rich soils attract savannah animals including elephants and bushbucks. As the Rift Mountains have thrust upwards, they become an agent of evolutionary change as small populations of animals are isolated from their lowland relatives. Melanistic forms of servals and leopards arise mainly in the highlands. The programme ends in the heart of the continent, with scenes of mountain gorillas in the Virungas.