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Predator vs Prey | Battles for Survival in Animal Kingdom (Full Episode) | Wildlife Documentary — Transcript

by WILD NATURE - Nature animal documentary · 17,989 words · 3,390 segments · language en · Watch on YouTube

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0:03Every battle for survival has one rule.
0:08The strongest one does not always win.
0:13[music]
0:13The dry season grips the okavango.
0:17The African savannah grass turns dry
0:22and the young in this lion kingdom hang
0:25in the balance.
0:28Will the herd hold on to what it wants?
0:33[music]
0:43[music]
0:48[music]
1:01Tell us below whose side you are on
1:05before the greatest fights of the
1:07savannah begin.
1:20The Oak of Angal is a rare inland delta.
1:28Its water never reaches the sea.
1:32It spreads out along the edge of the
1:34Kalahari Desert.
1:37UNESCO calls it one of the few inland
1:40deltas still left in its natural state.
1:48Even when the channel runs almost dry,
1:52the most patient hunter here stays.
1:57[music]
1:59Every year that water comes and goes to
2:03its own rhythm,
2:06and the web of life here must learn to
2:09live by that beat.
2:14The flood here is not born from rain on
2:18the delta.
2:20It starts with storms on the Angolan
2:23highlands. [music]
2:25Hundreds of miles off, then takes
2:28[music] weeks to reach the Kalahari
2:30basin.
2:33Right when the Okavango dry season
2:35[music] bites hardest, that water is
2:38already on its way.
2:42>> [music]
2:43>> In the meantime, every living thing here
2:47has to get by on whatever the dry season
2:50leaves.
2:51If this drought goes on longer, life
2:55here will fall apart before the water
2:58returns.
3:02The fish eagle's call carries for miles
3:06a sound many still call the voice of
3:10Africa.
3:12A distress call about the water louder
3:16each day.
3:19Impala live in herds for a simple
3:23reason.
3:25The more eyes watching,
3:28the harder for a hunter to get close.
3:32They groom one another with scent glands
3:35under the eyes. How the herd keeps
3:39knowing who is who in the crowd.
3:43And when forced to run,
3:46they can leap almost 3 m high and 10 out
3:51in one bound.
3:54enough to escape most strikes at range.
3:59But once singled out at close range,
4:03numbers and leaps no longer help.
4:08From that moment, only raw speed decides
4:13who lives.
4:18This is where three cubs get their first
4:21real lesson.
4:23a true hunt out in the open.
4:27For now, all they can do is watch
4:31and learn.
4:41Not every lesson is learned by doing.
4:45Some lessons are too dangerous to
4:48practice for real.
4:52>> [music]
4:59[music]
5:05[music]
5:11[music]
5:16>> Sometimes the biggest reward comes from
5:19waiting.
5:21not from striking first.
5:27[laughter]
5:28Feeding her cubs is still easy for now,
5:34but the flood will change every rule of
5:37this game.
5:41The mother teaches her cubs this skill
5:44because one day they must survive alone.
5:56That is how every parent in the Okavango
6:00protects its next generation.
6:04An impalo's horns can kill with one
6:07wrong strike. And a mother cheetah gets
6:11no second chance.
6:15This animal's greatest weapon is not
6:18strength, but speed. And the way it
6:22changes direction mid-sprint at full
6:26power,
6:30>> an unusually bendy spine,
6:34a long tail that works like a rudder,
6:38and claws that never pull all the way
6:41in.
6:44More dog than cat.
6:49Every part of a cheetah's body serves
6:52one job.
6:55Get to full speed fast,
6:58then turn faster still.
7:03But that speed comes at a price.
7:06A chase at full power lasts only a few
7:10dozen seconds before the body overheats
7:13and has to stop.
7:17even with prey right in front of it.
7:26As many as nine in 10 cheetah cubs
7:29never live to see adulthood in the wild.
7:34Most [music] lost to lions, hyenas, or
7:38birds of prey.
7:40From [music] 6 weeks old, they already
7:43follow their mother onto the plains.
7:46But it takes almost [music] a year
7:48before they join a hunt
7:51and their mother raises them alone until
7:5418 months old.
7:58[music]
7:59Between hunts, the siblings still play
8:02rough, drilling the grip on the throat,
8:06the bite to the [music] neck they will
8:08need once no one hunts for them.
8:17At high noon, when the sun burns
8:20hottest,
8:22most bigger hunters rest to save
8:25strength.
8:27That is when the cheetater chooses to
8:29hunt to avoid a straight fight with
8:32rivals too worn out by the heat to move.
8:37A choice about timing can matter as much
8:41as speed.
8:45This mother did what she set out to do
8:48and passed on [music] a lesson that
8:50works.
8:57And now the flood rolls in.
9:03Some species here only survive because
9:07the okavango never [music] quite dries
9:10up.
9:14The red lequ has unusually wide hooves
9:19built for moving across muddy ground.
9:30The Okavand's first flood rolls in,
9:40carrying water overground, cracked, dry
9:44for months.
9:46The flood water carries silt
9:50and within weeks thick new grass covers
9:54the ground that was once driest of all.
10:03Thousands of buffalo break off their
10:05migration [music] and return to this
10:08ground where the flood lays out a green
10:11feast.
10:17A grown bull buffalo can weigh over 700
10:21kilos.
10:23Each carries a bony shield on its
10:26forehead,
10:28something no other grazer here has.
10:35African buffalo rarely move alone.
10:39A herd can run into the hundreds, and
10:43that number is the first armor against
10:46every hunter in the Okavango.
10:51[music]
10:54No single leader ever runs a buffalo
10:59herd.
11:00Which way the herd moves is decided
11:04[music] by the grown females.
11:07Each one stands up, looks one way, as if
11:12casting a vote with her eyes.
11:17The herd only turns once enough of those
11:21eyes agree.
11:26Another
11:31buffalo has just gone through a long
11:33journey with no time to rest after
11:36birth.
11:43Since giving birth, she has been more
11:45worn out than ever.
11:48But her calf is full of energy, and her
11:51job is to keep it safe.
11:59At the same time,
12:02another jacka on the oak of anger raises
12:05its young alone,
12:08holding its floating nest for 21 days.
12:16This devoted father can guard his whole
12:19[music] brood alone under his own wings.
12:26This flood does not just feed the grass.
12:33Young fish pour into the pools
12:36and birds follow to feed.
12:41[music] A brief season of plenty before
12:44the water pulls back.
12:50Heat.
13:14Heat.
13:23>> [music]
13:32>> Strike one and you fight the whole herd.
13:42The mother and her calf are safe this
13:46time.
13:49Numbers out here
13:51are the weaker side's greatest weapon.
13:59So what decides a fight for survival?
14:02Numbers and teamwork
14:05or one animals strength?
14:10Tell us in the comments.
14:15Out here, numbers and the instinct to
14:20protect one's young decide who wins.
14:27Lions,
14:29unlike buffalo,
14:31live within a fixed territory.
14:35A pride cannot wander too far.
14:40or stay away too long.
14:45Because hunger waits for no one and a
14:48cub fed nothing today
14:52may not be there tomorrow.
14:56That is why this young pride gamles on a
14:59buffalo herd
15:01rather than leave its ground for easier
15:04prey elsewhere.
15:12No map marks territory in the Okavango.
15:20It is marked by scent
15:24by roars carrying for miles
15:28and by [music] the pride showing up day
15:32after day.
15:35Stay away too long and you have lost it.
15:46Hyenas fight lions for this ground,
15:49[music] too.
15:51The two compete for prey
15:54and steal each other's kills. [music]
15:57So, every hunt in the Okavango has a
16:00cost.
16:04staying on guard
16:07even after winning.
16:14Few know that hyena clans are led by
16:17their oldest females.
16:20A social order as tight as a lion
16:23prides.
16:25Just [music] rarely talked about.
16:32[music] But the water never stays for
16:35good.
16:39In a few more weeks,
16:42this ground [music] turns into the
16:44greenest grass of the year.
16:47The richest stretch the Okavango can
16:50offer a hunter.
16:57[snorts]
16:59The flood has pulled back.
17:07leaving the greenest grass of the year.
17:14This is the easiest hunting season the
17:17Okavango can offer.
17:20A coalition of mother African lions with
17:23small cubs in tow.
17:31[music] Zebra stay close behind the
17:33retreating water line where the first
17:37new grass comes up.
17:42The flood's rhythm decides where [music]
17:44prey gathers and a coalition that knows
17:48its ground will know where that spot is
17:52before the zebra herd gets there.
18:03Zebra are not the only ones waiting.
18:10Wild beast and tesse come too.
18:18Each going for a different grass height,
18:21sharing this field with barely any
18:24competition.
18:26[music]
18:34A full-grown zebra weighs almost as much
18:37as four lions,
18:40and one kick from its hind legs can
18:43break the jaw of a hunter reckless
18:46enough to close in alone.
18:49Plenty of food does not mean less
18:52effort.
18:59This time these mothers cannot afford to
19:02fail
19:06the way that young pride once did.
19:14Those stripes are not just for hiding.
19:20Many scientists think the pattern keeps
19:22flies off the skin.
19:26A small defense against [music]
19:27parasites
19:29before any hunter shows up.
19:33[music]
19:37A coalition of lionesses
19:40is close blood relatives
19:43raised in the same pride,
19:47sharing the work of raising young,
19:51even nursing one another's cubs. if
19:54needed.
19:57They stand shouldertosh shoulder
20:01even against the pride's own male.
20:05Lionesses are also the fiercest group
20:09hunters on the savana.
20:14Hunting as one group brings down bigger
20:18prey than any single lioness could
20:21manage alone.
20:28Cubs born into a coalition like this
20:33depend on their mothers until 2 years
20:36old.
20:42Without the group to protect them, most
20:45cubs would never reach adulthood.
20:50The bigger a coalition,
20:52the more eyes watch cubs against hyenas,
20:58leopards, or strange male lions.
21:03That is why no mother lion hunts alone.
21:08Not if she has any other choice.
21:16All day the lion cubs chase one another,
21:20[music] pouncing on anything that moves.
21:25That play is never just for fun.
21:29It drills the stalk,
21:32pounce, and grip a coalition will need
21:36on its own hunts.
21:40No successful hunt means no meal for the
21:44whole group.
21:46Not even one
21:49female lions do most of the hunting for
21:52the pride,
21:5485 to 90%,
21:57usually by ambush.
22:00Working together lets them bring down
22:02huge prey.
22:04Animals the size of a buffalo, a rhino,
22:09or a giraffe.
22:17Today they have found their target.
22:21But singling out one animal from the
22:24herd is never simple.
22:46>> [laughter]
22:50>> One zebra is enough to feed this family
22:53of mothers and cubs for days.
23:00This becomes a race against the clock.
23:07The farther the scent of blood travels,
23:11the more prides show up for a share
23:18before vultures signal it to the sky.
23:22From hundreds of meters up,
23:26one vulture spots another dropping down
23:30and follows it down.
23:33In a few minutes, word of a hunt just
23:37ended
23:38can spread across the sky.
23:45This time the mothers have won. But the
23:49race against being found out never
23:52really ends.
23:55Sand only buys one afternoon.
24:03The vultures will find [music] this meal
24:06soon enough,
24:08even once little is left.
24:12As efficient as these cleaners are, this
24:16natural warning system keeps growing
24:19thinner each year.
24:24Falter populations across Africa have
24:27fallen by more than half in decades.
24:32And once falters are gone,
24:35carcasses linger longer and disease
24:40spreads farther.
24:43The new order of the Okavango
24:46stays the same. A successful hunt today
24:51promises nothing for tomorrow.
24:58Three fights, three endings, one hunt
25:02done perfectly,
25:05one defeat by numbers,
25:08and one win bought with neverending
25:11watchfulness.
25:14Not one of these three fights was
25:18decided by raw strength alone.
25:28The cheetah wins on speed.
25:32The buffalo wins through numbers.
25:37The lions win by working together at the
25:40right moment in the right place
25:44as the water pulls back.
25:51Even a single jakana quiet on its nest
25:55through flood season
25:57is living by that same rule.
26:03One rule runs through all three.
26:07Life in the Okavango is never handed out
26:13and never easy to hold on to.
26:20In this kingdom of the African lion, the
26:23predator does not always win.
26:27Through one dry season,
26:30one flood, then another dry season,
26:35the mothers decide who lives and who
26:39does not.
26:41The flood will pull back again.
26:45The dry season
26:47will come again.
26:51That wheel never stops.
27:00The fires that close the dry season burn
27:04the old grass,
27:07clearing the way for new shoots.
27:11A small destruction
27:14traded for a fresh start.
27:19This year's mother cheetah will grow
27:21old.
27:23Her cubs will stand on their own when
27:26another dry season grips the Okavana.
27:32And somewhere else, another coalition
27:36at another bend along the water will
27:39face the same choice.
27:43Risk it or wait.
27:49But the rule never changes.
27:52Survival is fought for and taken,
27:57not given.
28:00No winner in the oak of holds the throne
28:03for good.
28:05Only the parents willing to step out
28:08again once the season turns and everyone
28:13plays again on the same terms.
28:18So tell us in this lion kingdom
28:22who really holds the throne,
28:26the predator or the parents who never
28:29stop fighting.
28:34Leave your comment below since [music]
28:36every comment drives us to bring more
28:39wild stories.
28:42Hit like and follow the channel for more
28:46fights for survival from every wild
28:49kingdom on this planet.
28:58This third largest island on Earth
29:02houses an ancient [music] forest even
29:05older than the Amazon,
29:09where more than 20 million people live.
29:14Yet, no one has ever truly tamed it.
29:20Borneo sits right along the equator and
29:24is shared among three nations
29:27with Indonesia holding the southern
29:30region
29:32while Malaysia and Brunai split [music]
29:35the Northern Territory.
29:39Yet the real boundaries that shape life
29:42here were never drawn up by any
29:44government.
29:47They are carved by flowing waters,
29:51by dense forest canopies, and by the
29:54rolling tides of the sea.
29:58Here, a city awakens right at the feet
30:02of a sacred mountain.
30:05[music] An entire village slumbers
30:08beneath a single roof.
30:12Young children learn to dive
30:15before they even walk.
30:19And swarms of bats stream out of cave
30:23mouths dense as a plume of dark smoke.
30:30Towns home to thousands of people rise
30:34on wooden stilts hovering over river
30:38currents without a single road touching
30:42solid ground.
30:46Every community across this island is
30:49answering the exact same question in
30:53their own way.
30:57Not how to conquer the wild,
31:00but how to strike a balance with it.
31:06Deep within one of the oldest remaining
31:09forests on Earth,
31:12survival at the end of the day comes
31:15down to harmony rather than conquest.
31:21The people here have learned to let
31:24nature shelter them.
31:27and walk hand in hand with the natural
31:31world in mutual [music]
31:33respect.
31:37[music]
31:41That is precisely how people live on
31:45Borneo,
31:47an island spanning nearly 300,000
31:51square miles.
31:54Kota Kinabalo
31:56serves as the capital of Sabah in
31:59Malaysian northern Borneo.
32:03Home to half a million residents
32:07and the single largest city across
32:10[music] the entire island.
32:14Behind them stands a mountain so high
32:20it can create weather patterns of its
32:23own.
32:26As dawn breaks, the coastal [music]
32:29fish market is already packed to the
32:32gills.
32:35[music]
32:38Boats ride low in the water, burdened
32:42with fresh seafood,
32:45harvested after a night of fishing
32:48around distant islands.
32:52Traders of Philippine descent
32:55display tuna and grouper over beds of
32:58crushed ice.
33:01A woman skillfully guts a fish with just
33:06[music] three swift slices,
33:10then calls out her price while [music]
33:13buyers drive a hard bargain for trays of
33:16shrimp still jumping around.
33:21The air carries the sharp tang of sea
33:24salt, the smell of diesel fuel, and the
33:27rich aroma of grilled meat.
33:31On Sundays,
33:33the Tamu Open Market brings the entire
33:36downtown [music] area to life
33:40as villagers from the hills bring down
33:43rice, honey, and handrolled tobacco to
33:47sell
33:49while the Joe women display river pearl
33:52necklaces on woven ratan trays.
33:57By 8 in the morning, the streets are
34:01choked up with motorbikes and office
34:03workers.
34:07This is a modern metropolis complete
34:10with shopping malls, traffic signals,
34:12and a mosque that appears to float over
34:16the lagoon.
34:18Yet, the ancient forest never steps
34:21back.
34:23along with dozens of other communities.
34:27Each holds onto its own kitchen corner
34:31and its own prayers.
34:34They built this coastal city in the
34:37[music] span of a single generation.
34:41While the island quietly holds its
34:43ground in the background,
34:48more ancient and vast than anything
34:51humans could ever set in concrete.
34:59Heading down toward the western coast,
35:02another river city drifts along at a
35:06much slower pace.
35:09Kuching, the capital of Sowak state,
35:14stretches along both banks of the Sowak
35:17River.
35:22In the local dialect, its name
35:24translates to cat. And the residents
35:28here take great delight in this
35:31coincidence,
35:34placing cat statues on guard right at
35:38the traffic roundabouts.
35:41Yet the true heartbeat of Kuching rests
35:45out on the water.
35:48Wooden ferryboats known as tambang have
35:51been shuttling passengers across the
35:53river since time in memorial.
35:58The boatman stands at the helm
36:01pushing the oars to collect small change
36:06just as his ancestors did before him.
36:11On the opposite bank lie ancient [music]
36:14Kampong villages
36:17with wooden houses swaying on stilts
36:21clad in faded layers of green and blue
36:24paint.
36:27Malay residents settled here long ago,
36:31and the call to prayer echoing at first
36:34light, drifting across the reddish brown
36:37waters,
36:39has become the familiar rhythm of every
36:42morning.
36:46>> [music]
36:46>> A woman sweeps her stilt porch,
36:51then hangs laundry to dry right over the
36:55tidal waters,
36:58while a few cats stroll along the wooden
37:01walkways
37:03without giving a second thought to the
37:06river below.
37:13Strolling through the old market,
37:17you see the entire island condensed into
37:22a single street.
37:29Chinese grocery stores sell traditional
37:34herbs, rich coffee, and piping hot
37:38steamed buns.
37:41While Indian merchants scoop up handfuls
37:45of spices onto the scales,
37:49by evening the waterfront bustles with
37:53families enjoying the cool breeze.
37:58They grill saté skewers and stir
38:01steaming pans of sowak laxa
38:06while elders play chess beneath the
38:08streetlight glow.
38:12Across the water, the domed government
38:15buildings glow in radiant gold light.
38:19A solitary tambang quietly docks through
38:23the shimmering reflections,
38:26its single lantern swaying to the rhythm
38:30of the waves.
38:33No single community dominates Kuchin.
38:37Mallay, Chinese, Eban and Bau
38:43all share the same riverbank and
38:45marketplace.
38:49Here harmony has never meant standing
38:53apart,
38:55but living side by side with neighbors
38:58who worship different gods,
39:02all while considering this arrangement
39:05home.
39:10Stretching along this river, out of
39:13every 100 acres of forest,
39:1780 have vanished, making way for endless
39:21rows of oil palms [music] stretching all
39:24the way to the horizon.
39:28The Kinabatangan is Sabar's longest
39:32river,
39:34meandering through the eastern plains
39:37toward the sea.
39:40The rare surviving patches of forest now
39:44amount to a paper thin green ribbon
39:48clinging to both banks.
39:51And it is within this narrow constricted
39:54corridor
39:56that Borneo's entire wild world is
40:00squeezed together.
40:03How do you share a river with a creature
40:07capable of toppling a home?
40:12The orange [music] sunai, a river
40:15dwelling people, have farmed along these
40:18banks for generations.
40:22Now they awaken [music] in disbelief
40:26to find pygmy elephants looming right
40:29inside [music] their plantations.
40:33These are the smallest elephants on
40:35Earth,
40:37standing just a little taller than an
40:39adult human.
40:42Shrinking [music] forest area has pushed
40:44them out into the open to feed on young
40:48palm shoots.
40:50And a single herd can sweep clean a
40:54villagers's entire field in the blink of
40:57an eye.
41:00For the river people, boats are the only
41:03road.
41:04Children travel to school by motorboat
41:07at door
41:09and nurses move from village to village
41:12using [music] outboard motors.
41:17There are no bridges here, only muddy
41:20waters winding between walls of oil
41:24palms.
41:25So farmers pull allnighters in the dark,
41:30banging pots and pans,
41:33stringing wire and burning old tires to
41:37shield their crops
41:39from a creature they were taught to
41:42respect.
41:45In the face of this standoff,
41:48no one comes out a clear winner.
41:52High above, orangutangs [music]
41:55move slowly and quietly
41:58through the remaining treetops.
42:01Probosus monkeys leap across gaps at
42:05dusk
42:06with their unusually large noses
42:09silhouetted against the sunset.
42:12While crocodiles keep the muddy shallows
42:15motionless like drifting logs.
42:22During a 1-hour journey along this
42:24winding stretch,
42:27the wild Borneo remains very much alive.
42:33All compressed into a narrow ribbon of
42:36green.
42:38As night falls, the forest closes in and
42:43resonates [music]
42:43with a roaring chorus of insects.
42:48Somewhere in the dark, an elephant tears
42:51through a fence and the farmer hurriedly
42:55grabs his flashlight.
42:58Men who once felled this forest have now
43:02turned into tour boat captains.
43:07A former logger cuts the boat's engine
43:10to let it drift freely,
43:13pointing out a mother Oringaong to
43:16tourists, her presence bringing him
43:21an income far greater than the timber he
43:24once harvested.
43:27Other locals choose to work directly in
43:30the oil palm plantations,
43:34harvesting heavy fruit bunches [music]
43:37under the fierce sun.
43:40For daily wages, the very palm tree that
43:44draws invading elephants
43:47is what pays the bills for their
43:49children's schooling.
43:53Here, the compromise that allowed humans
43:56and ancient forests to coexist [music]
43:59on one island is beginning to fray.
44:04And anyone living along the Kabatang
44:08can watch it unravel season after
44:12season.
44:15The forest that shaped their river way
44:18of life is now measured acre by acre and
44:23that number continues to shrink.
44:31On the African plains,
44:33two powers have faced each other for
44:36tens of thousands of generations.
44:40On one side, the lion pride, [music]
44:44a symbol of culling and coordinated
44:47strength.
44:50[music]
44:54On the other, the Cape Buffalo herd.
44:59Their rivalry is as aid as the savannah
45:03itself.
45:13For a lion pride,
45:16buffalo are among the most valuable prey
45:19on the plane.
45:21But the greater the prize, the higher
45:24the price.
45:36Buffalo are also the most dangerous prey
45:41in all of Africa.
45:44[music]
45:49Alone, a lion can almost never
45:55bring down a full grown buffalo.
46:04Only together
46:06does the pride turn separate strength
46:10into a hunting machine.
46:25A mature Cape Buffalo herd
46:30is never small.
46:36Depending on water and grass,
46:40numbers swing from 50 to 500 animals.
46:49[screaming]
46:52A bull can weigh close to a ton.
46:59Across his skull, the horns fuse
47:04into a single unbroken shield of bone.
47:11[screaming]
47:16When the herd stops to rest, an
47:19invisible order takes shape.
47:24The herd becomes a living fortress.
47:31As long as the wall of horns holds,
47:36almost no hunter dares to charge in.
47:44But even a living fortress needs someone
47:48to lead it.
47:51At the head of a herd 400 strong
47:57is a small group of old cows.
48:05Their experience holds season after
48:08season
48:12of surviving inside the ring of a lion
48:16pride.
48:25For a lead cow, grazing while watching
48:29for danger
48:32has become instinct.
48:37The herd stays in contact
48:42through a language of its own.
48:54As long as that sound stays steady,
48:59the whole mass grazes in peace.
49:05When it suddenly falls away, every
49:07animal knows something is wrong.
49:13Buffalo are specialist grazers.
49:18A living mower running almost all day
49:22without a break.
49:28That way of feeding ties them to the
49:31grass
49:34eat a great deal [music]
49:38and never stand in one place for long.
49:48Even breeding runs on a code of its own.
49:57He reads which cow is coming into
50:00season.
50:02Under the dust and the steady sound of
50:05grazing,
50:08a whole social order keeps working in
50:12silence.
50:15On the backs of all that muscle,
50:19there are always small guests.
50:23But these birds take more from their
50:26host than a single meal.
50:31And the buffalo sinks into a strange
50:34distant calm
50:37as if he has no idea anyone is living on
50:41his back.
50:49That buffalo is almost untouchable.
50:54Inside the herd,
50:57a few beats apart from it,
51:01he becomes the most vulnerable target on
51:04the grassland.
51:07And that is exactly
51:11what the pride has been waiting for.
51:16Heat. Heat.
51:56The decisive blow is not in the legs
51:59being locked down.
52:03It is at the throat.
52:07The grip seals off any call for help,
52:16but the sound of the struggle had
52:18already carried across the grass.
52:23The balance turns in a matter of
52:26seconds.
52:28The first round closes with the wind
52:30going to numbers.
52:45For most of the year,
52:49this herd has to push back attacks from
52:52the resident lion pride
52:56[groaning]
52:57day after day.
53:03The pride will often just stand and
53:06wait.
53:10The smallest movement
53:13is enough to signal that the hunt has
53:16begun.
53:20The pride tends to close in from every
53:23side at once,
53:27and the herd does not simply stand and
53:30take it.
53:33The bulls charge straight out to meet
53:36them.
53:39In that chaos,
53:42the hunters sometimes find their
53:45opening.
53:52And the first to pay
53:57are usually the young ones who have not
54:00learned the tactics.
54:05Hunter and hunted
54:09share exactly the same ground.
54:14That is the price the herd pays for
54:18water and sweet grass.
54:23Danger and death
54:27draw the daily rhythm of this herd.
54:33And the dry season ahead
54:37is about to make everything harsher.
54:55The dry season pulls every species
55:00toward the same few points of water.
55:08All of them pressed together along the
55:10mud.
55:15But living beside a water hole
55:19is a trade, too.
55:23After only a few days, the grass around
55:27the edge is cropped bare.
55:34For the lead cows,
55:37that becomes a hard calculation.
55:40The noring thirst is finally answered
55:46here, beyond the reach of the lion
55:49pride.
55:52The cows visibly let go.
55:57They know the hard days are very close.
56:02So they take every easy moment that is
56:05left.
56:08A rare pause
56:10between two brutal seasons.
56:14But the peace of this oasis
56:19has never lasted long.
56:25But when the last water holes shrivel
56:27into mud,
56:29the whole network of survival
56:33is pulled tight.
56:39And when the map runs empty,
56:43the hunters go hungry too.
56:49Only a stagnant mudpool,
56:53thick and rank,
56:55[screaming]
56:56that mud has its uses, too.
57:01It also works as natural sun protection.
57:14One cow steps in too deep.
57:18The soft mud closes hard around her
57:22legs.
57:24Any animal that went in to help
57:28would be caught in exactly the same way.
57:35and the herd has to move on.
57:40This is the harsh underside of
57:42collective [music] strength itself.
57:50There are lines even a group cannot
57:52cross,
57:54not without dragging itself down too.
58:00Sometimes
58:02for the many to live, one has to be left
58:06behind.
58:11Survival on the savannah
58:14[music] has never been a simple
58:15equation.
58:2140 kilometers away
58:24on the old grassland,
58:26the pride gets no rest at all.
58:31The migration of the cows has taken
58:34their meals with it.
58:37Now they have to scrape together
58:40whatever they can reach.
58:47Hunger forces the pride to lower its
58:50standards.
58:56There are no thousand kilo buffalo
59:00within reach.
59:02They have to turn to smaller targets,
59:07lower risk,
59:10a far poorer prize.
59:14And the outcome
59:17is never certain.
59:38A lion can go hungry
59:41for days between successful hunts.
59:48For every 10 attempts,
59:51seven times the ruler of the plains
59:56comes back with nothing.
1:00:00A hunter spends most of its life inside
1:00:04failure.
1:00:09And even the rare successful huntes
1:00:15another face of hunger.
1:00:21Imperfect step until the last second
1:00:26until the food has to be divided.
1:00:31A warthog is barely one portion.
1:00:36And the pride male claims first right.
1:00:41[screaming]
1:00:44The teamwork dissolves
1:00:47the moment there is not enough to share.
1:00:53The rest have to stand and wait.
1:01:01By the time their turn comes,
1:01:04only a few streaks of dried blood on the
1:01:07grass are left to lick.
1:01:11It is a miscalculation.
1:01:13He is swatted away.
1:01:16In hunger,
1:01:19even blood ties fall behind rank.
1:01:25Overhead,
1:01:27the vultures are always waiting.
1:01:32On the savannah,
1:01:34no hunger belongs to one animal alone.
1:01:39But not every prey animal has a fortress
1:01:42to fall back on.
1:01:46The savannah holds another lesson
1:01:51about those who have to fight completely
1:01:55alone.
1:01:57They carry exactly one weapon
1:02:03and one split second to decide how to
1:02:07use it.
1:02:12The story now moves to more open country
1:02:18where speed is the ultimate rule.
1:02:27Because a cheetah is the living form of
1:02:30a brutal tradeoff.
1:02:33To reach unmatched steed,
1:02:37the body has been stripped down to the
1:02:40edge of fragility.
1:02:45A light skeleton, slender muscle,
1:02:50jaws and claws far weaker than any other
1:02:53big cat.
1:02:56A minor injury for a cheetater can be a
1:02:59death sentence.
1:03:04The cost of speed is written into every
1:03:08part of the body.
1:03:10A cheetah accelerates faster than a
1:03:13sports car.
1:03:16hitting top [music] speed within a few
1:03:19strides.
1:03:22But that burst burns a terrible amount
1:03:25of energy.
1:03:28Within a few dozen seconds,
1:03:31that body has already reached a
1:03:34dangerous threshold.
1:03:37That is why this species usually chooses
1:03:39small, lightly armed prey.
1:03:45Like the shorthorned Thompson's gazelle,
1:03:53a longhorned Grants is usually avoided,
1:03:59while a safer option still exists.
1:04:05Grants gazelle are masters of survival
1:04:08in dry country.
1:04:11They can go for days almost without
1:04:14drinking,
1:04:17pulling water straight out of the grass.
1:04:22That ability carries them out onto the
1:04:25most open plains of all
1:04:29where there is nowhere to hide, only
1:04:31speed and a pair of horns to lean on.
1:04:38Grants gazelle tolerate heat, but many
1:04:42other species have to avoid.
1:04:47Their bodies draw water directly from
1:04:49the grass they eat.
1:04:53And they can let body temperature run
1:04:55higher than normal
1:04:57rather than lose water through sweat.
1:05:01That is how
1:05:03they hold ground in the driest country.
1:05:10where hunters are thinner on the ground,
1:05:15but also where there is not one tree to
1:05:17hide behind,
1:05:20far bigger than her usual prey.
1:05:24The horns of a male grants
1:05:27have long been known as a serious
1:05:30opponent.
1:05:37Out on the open plains,
1:05:40most cheetah cubs
1:05:43never live to adulthood.
1:05:46Their mother has to hunt enough
1:05:49and hunt constantly
1:05:52just to keep the family alive.
1:06:06>> [music]
1:06:24>> The gazelle wins,
1:06:27at least
1:06:29in this moment.
1:06:31But on the other side,
1:06:34an internal injury
1:06:38strips away the one thing that matters
1:06:40most to an animal built on speed,
1:06:46the ability to accelerate.
1:06:55And her cubs depend on her completely
1:06:59through their first year. Her
1:07:06wound becomes a shadow falling over an
1:07:09entire generation.
1:07:13One counter strike from the prey.
1:07:17Paid for with the whole future
1:07:23of a family on the other side of the
1:07:26line.
1:07:33So, in the clash you have just seen,
1:07:39who do you think actually won?
1:07:46Leave your answer in the comments
1:07:50before we move to a new battle
1:07:56on the far side of the savannah.
1:08:01The lion pride
1:08:05after a run of failures
1:08:09is working toward a completely different
1:08:11move.
1:08:19The pride stops and watches.
1:08:23Day after day, they read the herd like a
1:08:26map.
1:08:30looking for the single crack in the
1:08:32wall.
1:08:35And then they find it.
1:08:40She is still inside the herd,
1:08:44but she can no longer hold the herd's
1:08:46pace.
1:08:50The tactics change direction at once.
1:08:56At first, the herd does not abandon her
1:08:59outright.
1:09:02One bull turns back and stays beside the
1:09:06injured cow
1:09:10as if lending her a little courage.
1:09:17But she cannot walk any faster. And with
1:09:20every passing hour, the gap between her
1:09:23and herd stretches.
1:09:27until the main herd is too far away to
1:09:30come back for her.
1:09:33Now there is only her
1:09:38and the shapes that are waiting.
1:09:54The pride is in no hurry.
1:09:58They let time and pain finish the work
1:10:02that muscle could not.
1:10:06Only when she is forced to stop and rest
1:10:11do they close the distance
1:10:14a little further.
1:10:19Hours go by
1:10:22in that merciless rhythm.
1:10:28It strips the prey of strength.
1:10:33Piece by piece and of time.
1:10:36The most dangerous weapon the buffalo
1:10:39has
1:10:40is still intact.
1:10:43The holes.
1:10:48But horns are only frightening while
1:10:51there is still strength behind them to
1:10:54swing.
1:10:59And that strength is draining away by
1:11:02the minute.
1:11:04The pride has finally found the one
1:11:07thing that can undo a wall of
1:11:12That thing is time. Heat.
1:11:27Heat.
1:11:45And it is over.
1:11:49This is the first successful hunt the
1:11:51pride has made in the entire season.
1:11:57But what matters is how it happened.
1:12:03This victory came from patience.
1:12:09The strongest is the one who knows how
1:12:12to wait
1:12:14for the right moment to strike.
1:12:20The ruler of the plains has won at last.
1:12:27But only by letting go of the very
1:12:30strength
1:12:33that made its name.
1:12:37And that is also the answer to the
1:12:40question opened in the first few
1:12:43seconds.
1:12:50An old ball
1:12:54moves away from the herd.
1:12:57A kind of bull who has always played the
1:13:00unofficial guard for the group.
1:13:0511 shapes recognize a rare opportunity.
1:13:11They are not fast enough to run a
1:13:13buffalo down,
1:13:16but together they can overwhelm him with
1:13:19numbers.
1:13:22And more importantly,
1:13:25they have to seal off his call before he
1:13:28can bring the herd.
1:13:33The ambush lands before the prey can
1:13:35react.
1:13:39One holds the call shut.
1:13:43The other eight work at draining his
1:13:46strength.
1:13:49A lion the weight of a refrigerator
1:13:54hangs its full mass on his neck.
1:14:03The pride is working to take that huge
1:14:06body apart piece by piece.
1:14:13And at that exact moment, something
1:14:16breaks.
1:14:20The bull is left alone.
1:14:25He goes down
1:14:29on his back
1:14:31in the weakest position of his life.
1:14:35For most prey, this is the end.
1:14:41But the herd has not truly left.
1:14:46The oldest lead cow
1:14:50[music] takes the point of the
1:14:52counterattack.
1:14:57The whole mass drives in and knocks the
1:15:01pride off the prey.
1:15:06Only when they are facing horns ready to
1:15:09run them through, do the lions let go.
1:15:15This counterattack is decisive.
1:15:20This time, not one lion can hold ground.
1:15:27The old bull is pulled back from the
1:15:30line of death.
1:15:33[music]
1:15:34Back into the ranks of his own.
1:15:40This victory does not belong to a pair
1:15:42of horns.
1:15:50It belongs to a group that leaves nobody
1:15:53behind.
1:15:58On the savannah, unity is the real
1:16:02weapon
1:16:11on the savannah.
1:16:13Survival has never been the privilege of
1:16:16the strongest alone.
1:16:20It belongs to those who know how to
1:16:22fight back
1:16:24in the right way
1:16:27and at the right moment.
1:16:31The sun drops behind the horizon.
1:16:35The savannah returns to its ancient
1:16:38stillness
1:16:40as if no battle had happened at all.
1:16:44But tomorrow new encounters will begin
1:16:47again.
1:16:50Because in this place,
1:16:54no power holds its position forever.
1:16:59Today's hunter may be tomorrow badly
1:17:02wounded.
1:17:05Today's prey
1:17:08may turn out to be the last one
1:17:11standing.
1:17:14Only one thing never changes.
1:17:19The endless turning between the weapon
1:17:21and the will to resist,
1:17:25between strength and intelligence.
1:17:30And now one last question for you.
1:17:35In the three clashes you have just
1:17:37watched,
1:17:40who was the real winner?
1:17:44Leave your answer in the comments
1:17:49and stay with us for the next stories
1:17:53from the wild heart of the savannah.
1:18:02Some countries introduce themselves with
1:18:04a glittering skyline, dreamy beaches, or
1:18:08postcard mountains.
1:18:10Chad introduces itself to the world with
1:18:13vast distance and blistering heat that
1:18:18lands before the sun even clears the
1:18:20horizon.
1:18:22And with a silence so immense it feels
1:18:26like a kind of weather all its own.
1:18:30People call it by a nickname the dead
1:18:33heart of Africa.
1:18:35Not out of cruelty but because it sits
1:18:38at the very center of the continent.
1:18:42Sealed in on every side by other nations
1:18:46and a thousand miles from the [music]
1:18:48nearest ocean. no matter which direction
1:18:52you travel.
1:18:54And yet nothing about how Chadians live
1:18:57here feels dead at all.
1:19:01Everything here feels stretched, taught,
1:19:05tested,
1:19:07and carried with a quiet pride outsiders
1:19:11rarely see. Somewhere between the Sahara
1:19:15to the north and Green River country to
1:19:18the south, nearly 20 million people wake
1:19:23up every morning to build an ordinary
1:19:26day
1:19:28out of one of the harshest landscapes
1:19:30[music] on Earth. This footage will show
1:19:34you what that life actually looks like.
1:19:38Tea poured in the shade at 4 in the
1:19:42afternoon.
1:19:43Millet pounded by hand before dawn. A
1:19:48village that still honors its elders
1:19:51the way a compass needle points north.
1:19:55If stories like this [music] pull you
1:19:57in, subscribe to ride along with us. And
1:20:01don't forget to comment and tell us
1:20:04where you're watching from.
1:20:18The dry season
1:20:22kills no one at once.
1:20:30It only takes a little at a time.
1:20:35[music]
1:20:39And territory once measured in
1:20:42footprints
1:20:45starts to be measured in hunger.
1:20:52Lions widen their range by almost 23
1:20:57compared with the wet season.
1:21:07Which means paths that never used to
1:21:10cross
1:21:12now cross every day.
1:21:22In this kingdom,
1:21:25the throne belongs to a male already
1:21:29past his prime.
1:21:32>> [music]
1:21:35>> He holds the territory. He holds the
1:21:38females. And he holds a litter of cubs
1:21:43only a few weeks old.
1:21:50He also holds what every king holds.
1:21:56And no king wants to name.
1:21:59A list of those waiting for him to slip.
1:22:13A lioness hunting alone.
1:22:18succeeds only about one time in six.
1:22:26Hunting as a group, that rate nearly
1:22:29doubles.
1:22:34Today, the wind favors the prey.
1:22:39Her scent arrives one beat ahead of her.
1:22:47And one beat is enough.
1:23:06Heat. Heat.
1:23:38>> [laughter]
1:23:42>> A failed hunt costs more than a meal.
1:23:48It costs time.
1:23:51Minutes when the cubs stay behind in the
1:23:55thicket
1:23:56with exactly one guard.
1:24:01But a king used to giving orders
1:24:06is very bad at sitting still.
1:24:13And while the hunt out there is still
1:24:16unfinished,
1:24:18a large shape has moved in without a
1:24:22sound.
1:24:27The mother comes back empty-handed.
1:24:32He is the king's brother,
1:24:36the cub's own uncle.
1:24:40In this world, blood is not a shield
1:24:45for an outside male to carry his own
1:24:48bloodline forward.
1:24:53He has to erase the bloodline already
1:24:56there.
1:24:57When a new coalition of males takes over
1:25:00a pride,
1:25:02the cubs of the old pride
1:25:05almost never survive.
1:25:10This is the leading cause of death
1:25:13for lions in their first year of life.
1:25:49King arrives last.
1:25:53All three without a single wound.
1:25:59The throne came close to falling today
1:26:04because the one holding it stepped away
1:26:09and the male who just backed off.
1:26:14Has he really given up?
1:26:17And the threat from outside is only half
1:26:21the story.
1:26:28A young male comes with an expiry date.
1:26:39At a certain age, they are pushed out of
1:26:43the pride.
1:26:46That is the law.
1:26:50The law exists for a very practical
1:26:53reason.
1:26:56Keeping them means raising your own
1:26:59rival.
1:27:10The eldest son in this pride
1:27:14should have left long ago.
1:27:18The king let him stay.
1:27:27The kingdom is shrinking.
1:27:31The prey is leaving.
1:27:34And two more grown jaws
1:27:37are two more shields.
1:27:47But mercy has an inconvenient habit.
1:27:53The one who is spared rarely remembers
1:27:56the favor.
1:28:04Every crack in a lion pride
1:28:10begins in the same place, a table.
1:28:17The feeding order in a lion pride is
1:28:20fixed.
1:28:23The dominant male first, then the
1:28:26lioness's,
1:28:31the cubs and the young ones last.
1:28:38A full grown male can take up to 45 kg
1:28:42of meat in one sitting
1:28:46before the rest is passed down.
1:28:51Today
1:28:54there is a disrespect coming from the
1:28:56grown sons.
1:29:01The result is that the prey escapes
1:29:07but the mother corrects it.
1:29:11The punishment comes on the spot
1:29:16and in front of everyone.
1:29:21The eldest son does not eat.
1:29:26There is a lesser known truth within a
1:29:29lion pride.
1:29:32Those who feast first
1:29:36and those who hunt
1:29:38play two distinct roles.
1:29:43The lionesses are certainly not getting
1:29:46a free ride.
1:29:51The lionesses
1:29:54operate under a clear division of labor.
1:29:59So stepping out of line at the dinner
1:30:01table
1:30:04is the entire pride's business,
1:30:09not just a single individuals.
1:30:14While the lion throne cracks from the
1:30:17inside.
1:30:19In another kingdom on the same land,
1:30:23power is being tested too.
1:30:31[music]
1:30:41On the other side of the land,
1:30:45a pack of African wild dogs
1:30:50just found themselves out in the cold.
1:30:55Giants in search of water passed right
1:30:59through the area.
1:31:03The pups made it out in the nick of
1:31:05time.
1:31:09The shelter wasn't so lucky.
1:31:15The pups were supposed to stay in their
1:31:17den for a few more weeks.
1:31:21From that day on, the entire pack
1:31:26was constantly on the move.
1:31:49They hunt in a way all their own.
1:31:53A single hunter rarely secures a meal
1:31:57alone.
1:32:02>> [laughter]
1:32:23[laughter]
1:32:40>> For them,
1:32:42speed
1:32:44takes center stage over tidy perfection.
1:32:54The African wild dog
1:32:58is one of the rarest carnivores in
1:33:00Africa.
1:33:04Their strength lies in formation
1:33:10and in one individual who leads the way.
1:33:16In this pack,
1:33:18the one who leads is a female.
1:33:23Her power rests on trust.
1:33:30She leads the pack
1:33:34toward a water hole. She remembers.
1:33:39Memory is a pathfinder's greatest asset.
1:33:46It is also the first thing the dry
1:33:48season destroys.
1:33:52That water hole has run dry.
1:33:57An adult spotted hyena
1:34:00weighs almost twice an African wild dog.
1:34:04[laughter]
1:34:06In a oneon-one fight,
1:34:10[laughter]
1:34:12the math is finished before it begins.
1:34:22[laughter] But wild dogs fight the way a
1:34:25pack fights.
1:34:27They do not need to win.
1:34:33They need to make winning too expensive.
1:34:48[laughter]
1:34:52In the end,
1:34:55the stronger animal walks away.
1:34:59By every ordinary measure, this is a
1:35:03victory.
1:35:07But a pack keeps score differently.
1:35:12What the pack remembers is the dry water
1:35:15hole
1:35:19and the ambush their pathfinder walked
1:35:21them straight into.
1:35:26She still has the affection of the pups.
1:35:31She has lost the respect of the pack.
1:35:35Here
1:35:37authority is not lost by losing a fight.
1:35:43It is lost by leaving the pack thirsty.
1:35:47[music]
1:35:49Do you think a leader who loses trust
1:35:53like that
1:35:56can ever win it back?
1:36:00Comment below and stay to the end of the
1:36:03story to find out.
1:36:16The scouting party that just pulled back
1:36:20is part of a much bigger picture.
1:36:26Spotted hiennas live in a structure far
1:36:28closer to a military force than a
1:36:31family.
1:36:36Their den operates much like a boot
1:36:38camp.
1:36:43The young ones compete with each other
1:36:46from day one.
1:36:51At the bottom of the totem pole, every
1:36:53meal is a clash.
1:36:58For the lowest ranking member to grab a
1:37:00bite,
1:37:04they must accept a few harsh nips.
1:37:20>> [laughter]
1:37:26>> Flying solo keeps things simple,
1:37:29[laughter]
1:37:32but the stomach remains empty.
1:37:36So it learns to live off another's
1:37:39[laughter] share.
1:37:42And in this kingdom,
1:37:45[laughter] even the thieves get robbed.
1:38:00[laughter]
1:38:21Jackals are faster, greater in numbers,
1:38:26and only need a small piece of the pie.
1:38:43>> [music]
1:38:46>> At night,
1:38:49the pack makes another round.
1:38:56They read the land to find the
1:38:59vulnerable,
1:39:01the weak.
1:39:04When the water recedes completely,
1:39:09the entire kingdom gathers at a single
1:39:12spot.
1:39:17The last water hole becomes a sanctuary
1:39:21for all species.
1:39:28And it also turns into the greatest trap
1:39:31in the area.
1:39:36Hunters here no longer need to chase
1:39:39after prey.
1:39:43They only need to pick the right spot.
1:39:48The prey know this all too well.
1:39:52But thirst gives no one the luxury of
1:39:56waiting another day.
1:39:59[laughter]
1:39:59So whoever controls the water hall
1:40:05during that dry season
1:40:09holds all the cards in the entire
1:40:12kingdom.
1:40:20The three sons know exactly where they
1:40:23stand in their father's eyes.
1:40:30So they stop trying to win him over.
1:40:36They turn to winning over the females.
1:40:42In a lion pride,
1:40:45the lionesses are the part that does not
1:40:48change.
1:40:51Males come and go.
1:40:56The females stay.
1:41:01Whoever has the females behind him has
1:41:05the pride.
1:41:10The experienced females weigh two
1:41:13things.
1:41:16A mother's bond with sons who have grown
1:41:22and duty to the king who holds the land.
1:41:28The king has seen this before.
1:41:33He saw it from the other side.
1:41:38on the day he took this kingdom himself.
1:41:44He knows exactly how it ends.
1:41:51Some lines are crossed only once.
1:41:56There will be no more warnings.
1:42:02The land has been his for a long time.
1:42:09What is coming is a test.
1:42:14The eldest son wants to know one thing.
1:42:21The authority that has pressed down on
1:42:24him all these months.
1:42:30How real is it still?
1:42:35The answer comes almost at once.
1:42:42The king is still heavier,
1:42:47still more scarred,
1:42:52still knows exactly where to put his
1:42:55weight.
1:42:59That raw strength is enough to remind
1:43:03the females which side they stand on.
1:43:07[screaming]
1:43:13But this time
1:43:17the one facing him
1:43:21is his own son.
1:43:34myself.
1:43:45I don't
1:44:17A lucky one at the right moment,
1:44:22but it lands.
1:44:24The wound is small.
1:44:29The consequence is not.
1:44:32If the king can be hurt,
1:44:36the king can be overthrown.
1:44:42The coup fails.
1:44:46The king strikes back
1:44:49and he strikes back hard.
1:44:54Retreating in pieces, the eldest son
1:44:58understands
1:45:01that if his father wanted to end this,
1:45:04he easily could.
1:45:08A few days later,
1:45:12he and his two brothers leave the
1:45:14kingdom on their own.
1:45:19No one holds them back.
1:45:26There is one behavior African wild dogs
1:45:29excel at.
1:45:32They step right onto the turf of those
1:45:35who call the shots.
1:45:39The formation stays low,
1:45:44keeping their eyes peeled,
1:45:48ears pinned flat.
1:45:52The whole pack stays silent.
1:45:58They eat faster than any other predator
1:46:01in these parts.
1:46:05Because on a lion pride's turf,
1:46:11they are living on borrowed time.
1:46:16In this realm, the weaker ones survive
1:46:19by precision
1:46:23while the leader is being put to the
1:46:26test.
1:46:30The pups still have to learn the ropes.
1:46:36They are far too young for this.
1:46:40The dry season doesn't hand out class
1:46:44schedules.
1:46:46Lesson one is moving under the radar.
1:46:52The prey spotted them first
1:46:55and the window of opportunity closed.
1:47:00At the first sign of trouble,
1:47:04the entire litter
1:47:06bolts back to shelter.
1:47:10They return to play fighting.
1:47:14The game puts no food in anyone's belly,
1:47:19but it lays the groundwork for future
1:47:22authority.
1:47:24For now,
1:47:27the dominant female has only one path
1:47:31left to reclaim her power.
1:47:38She goes looking for water.
1:47:42Every water hole nearby has dried out,
1:47:46like the one that cost her credibility.
1:47:50So, she chooses the only route left,
1:47:54the flood plane to the north,
1:47:57very far away.
1:48:00This is the biggest gamble of her life.
1:48:05The pack is already exhausted.
1:48:08The pups are far too small for a journey
1:48:11like this.
1:48:14If she is wrong again,
1:48:17what she loses is the whole pack.
1:48:21She is not wrong.
1:48:24She arrives worn down,
1:48:27scraped raw,
1:48:29and back in her old position.
1:48:33The lead is hers again.
1:48:40Two kingdoms,
1:48:43two opposite endings.
1:48:46One leader keeps the land
1:48:50and loses what cannot be seen.
1:48:54One leader loses all credibility,
1:48:57then wins it back with water.
1:49:02Both are renting their power
1:49:05by the day.
1:49:08On the African savannah,
1:49:11no throne has ever been allowed to
1:49:14sleep.
1:49:15What keeps a king on top is the belief
1:49:19of those around him.
1:49:22That his strength is still intact.
1:49:27That belief disappears in a single
1:49:30moment
1:49:32and no victory buys it back.
1:49:37And you, if you had to choose between
1:49:39the strongest leader
1:49:43and the leader who always finds a way,
1:49:47who would you follow?
1:49:51Leave your answer in the comments.
1:49:54For now, get ready for new horizons,
1:50:01places beyond what people imagine.
1:50:09Not every life and death chase fully
1:50:12defines a safari,
1:50:15for the journey unfolds a deeper
1:50:18question.
1:50:21What truly makes a safari trip
1:50:24memorable?
1:50:27Is it merely the breathless moments in
1:50:30the vehicle?
1:50:32Or is it also the way we travel,
1:50:37cause to rest,
1:50:41and choose the perfect time to set out?
1:50:47A game drive usually begins very early
1:50:50as the convoy rolls through the twilight
1:50:53to reach the riverbank just in time for
1:50:56sunrise.
1:51:00Not everyone is fortunate enough to
1:51:03catch that moment on their very first
1:51:06try.
1:51:11In the vehicle, a few rules are almost
1:51:14non-negotiable.
1:51:16Never stand up as the vehicle approaches
1:51:19a viewing spot
1:51:24and keep a clear distance from large
1:51:26bushes so as not to block the line of
1:51:29sight for both the group and the
1:51:32animals.
1:51:37Binoculars are an indispensable [music]
1:51:39companion for any firsttime safari goer.
1:51:49Many groups even [music] return to the
1:51:51exact same area for days in a row simply
1:51:55to keep following a story that began the
1:51:59day before.
1:52:02A truly complete safari is rarely
1:52:05confined to just a single morning.
1:52:14In South Luangua, Zambia,
1:52:18where the walking safari is said to have
1:52:20originated, it remains to this day one
1:52:24of the most immersive ways to truly
1:52:27connect with this pristine wilderness.
1:52:31rather than merely viewing it through a
1:52:34vehicle window.
1:52:42The paradox lies in how one of Africa's
1:52:46driest lands offers the finest wildlife
1:52:49viewing right from the water as
1:52:52travelers journey by boat along the Chob
1:52:56River rather than by vehicle.
1:53:15Farther south, the lower reaches of the
1:53:18Zambesi River are almost entirely
1:53:21inaccessible by road. To reach it,
1:53:24travelers have only two options. A
1:53:27flight on a light aircraft or paddling a
1:53:30kayak upstream.
1:53:34Surrounded by an isolated landscape
1:53:37rarely matched anywhere else.
1:53:51At the same time, South Luanga, the
1:53:54birthplace of the walking safari, is
1:53:57simultaneously a destination ranked
1:54:00among the most luxurious
1:54:03with a system of lodges set amidst a
1:54:06lush green landscape for those willing
1:54:10to pay for absolute privacy.
1:54:25Not every destination follows that path.
1:54:29In the Makasutu culture forest of
1:54:32Gambia,
1:54:33visitors can choose to stay at a small
1:54:36riverside lodge.
1:54:49There evenings welcome the sounds of
1:54:52insects
1:54:54and mornings welcome the calls of birds
1:54:58in place of any other expensive
1:55:01amenities.
1:55:14As for Penari in Benin,
1:55:17accommodations do not just stop at an
1:55:21overnight stay. The surrounding space
1:55:24bears a deep mark of indigenous culture,
1:55:29inadvertently turning a safari trip into
1:55:32a journey to discover the land.
1:55:48Not every park is equally accessible.
1:55:52Some places are quite well invested to
1:55:55welcome international visitors, even
1:55:58though the costs are usually slightly
1:56:01higher than the regional average.
1:56:19Not every month of the year yields an
1:56:22equally rewarding safari.
1:56:25In the Messiah Mara, the period from
1:56:28July to October is when immense herds of
1:56:32wilderbeast and zebra migrate on mass
1:56:36across the landscape. Many seasoned
1:56:39safari goers refer to this as the very
1:56:43essence of a season of survival.
1:57:03Elsewhere, the contrast lies more in the
1:57:06landscape than in the abundance of
1:57:09wildlife.
1:57:10The arid winter gives way to lush green
1:57:14bushland in the summer. endowing the
1:57:17very same destination with two entirely
1:57:21different faces depending on when you
1:57:24visit
1:57:34at Chob. However, it is during the dry
1:57:37season that wildlife gathers in the
1:57:40greatest numbers toward the northern
1:57:42part of the park
1:57:45as water sources there become scarcer
1:57:48and more precious than anywhere else.
1:57:58And not every destination lies along a
1:58:01convenient route. Some require a full
1:58:052-day overland journey or a domestic
1:58:09flight just to set foot at the park
1:58:12gates.
1:58:15[laughter]
1:58:19A memorable safari is rarely measured
1:58:21merely by the number of species spotted
1:58:25through binoculars.
1:58:27It is also about how one chooses to
1:58:29journey by vehicle, on foot or with the
1:58:34quiet stroke of a paddle along the
1:58:36river.
1:58:43It is where they lay their heads at
1:58:44night from a rustic bush camp to a
1:58:48luxurious riverside lodge. And it is the
1:58:52moment they choose to set out as the
1:58:55entire land shifts its colors with the
1:58:58seasons.
1:59:10The journey begins in the Caribbean Sea
1:59:13at an isolated island
1:59:17where the humpback whale once wintered.
1:59:27before continuing a migration thousands
1:59:29of kilome long.
1:59:33And it ends at a brackish swamp in
1:59:35Florida.
1:59:37There, a mystery will surface
1:59:40beneath the murky water.
1:59:44This is the story of predators
1:59:47forced to adapt again and again
1:59:51just to hold their place for one more
1:59:53season.
1:59:58Trinidad accounts for more than 80% of
2:00:01all nesting leatherback turtles across
2:00:04the entire Caribbean, second only to a
2:00:07single beach in West Africa.
2:00:13Ascension Island is home to the largest
2:00:15seabird colony
2:00:18left in the Atlantic.
2:00:20That population once lost most of its
2:00:22numbers in just half a century
2:00:26before recovering on its own.
2:00:31And in the Everglades, where the journey
2:00:34ends, scientists for the first time
2:00:38see the underwater world through the
2:00:40eyes of a crocodile.
2:00:46Trinidad, the Caribbean Sea.
2:00:50The tide falls to its lowest point of
2:00:52the day. The mangrove mud is exposed,
2:00:57revealing a hunting ground with nowhere
2:00:59to hide.
2:01:01The tangled roots that once offered
2:01:03shelter now become a prison maze. The
2:01:06small pools shrink by the minute,
2:01:11and any creature trapped inside has no
2:01:14way out.
2:01:17This is a trap, and it has just opened.
2:01:22The name of this fish
2:01:24comes from a visual mechanism rarely
2:01:27seen in nature. Each eye is split in two
2:01:31by a band of pigmented tissue with an
2:01:34offcenter lens
2:01:36flattened in the upper half and rounded
2:01:40in the lower half.
2:01:42Light from the air and light from the
2:01:44water refract differently. The result is
2:01:48that it sees both worlds at once. above
2:01:52the surface and below it. Scientists
2:01:55call this species the foureyed fish. But
2:02:00a pair of eyes can only warn.
2:02:03It cannot swim freely. And in a pool
2:02:07that is slowly drying out, reaction
2:02:10speed matters more than sight. Beneath
2:02:13the thin layer of water, a spectacled
2:02:15cayman patrols slowly,
2:02:19barely leaving a ripple.
2:02:22This is an ambush predator,
2:02:25conserving every calorie, able to lie
2:02:28still for hours, waiting for prey to
2:02:30come close, rather than spend energy on
2:02:33the chase.
2:02:37The view from above gives them what the
2:02:40Cayman does not have, the ability to see
2:02:43the whole pool at once. One threat
2:02:46hidden beneath the water, patient and
2:02:49almost invisible.
2:02:52Another threat watches from the air,
2:02:55fast and with a sweeping view.
2:02:59And in the middle, a creature with eyes
2:03:02built to detect both, but without legs
2:03:05quick enough to escape both at once.
2:03:09There is not always a way out
2:03:12for both sides at once.
2:03:26This is the first rule of the Atlantic
2:03:28Ocean.
2:03:30Even the most refined adaptation
2:03:33buys only one more chance, not a
2:03:36guarantee. This is only a small battle.
2:03:40Contained within a few meters of mud.
2:03:44Farther out toward the open Atlantic,
2:03:47the size of the arena grows, but the
2:03:51rules of the game do not change. From
2:03:54April to July each year, leatherback
2:03:57turtle, the largest turtle still living
2:04:00on Earth, hauls itself onto the sands of
2:04:03Trinidad to lay its eggs.
2:04:06This is one of the two busiest nesting
2:04:09beaches for the species anywhere in the
2:04:11world, second only to a stretch of coast
2:04:15in West Africa. The sex of each
2:04:18hatchling is not decided by its genes,
2:04:21but by the temperature of the sand.
2:04:25Above 30° C, most of the eggs hatch as
2:04:28females. Below that, most are males.
2:04:35An unusually hot season of sand can tilt
2:04:38an entire generation, and no hatchling
2:04:41has any say in the matter.
2:04:44The moment they hatch, the young find
2:04:47their way by the light reflected off the
2:04:49surface of the sea. On the short journey
2:04:52from nest to surf, most never reach the
2:04:55water.
2:04:58For those that survive to adulthood,
2:05:01another navigation system takes over.
2:05:04the ability to sense the Earth's
2:05:07magnetic field. That system is so
2:05:10precise that decades later, a female can
2:05:15return to the very beach where she once
2:05:17hatched across thousands of kilometers
2:05:20of ocean. The leatherback is not the
2:05:23only creature that makes this stretch of
2:05:26the Caribbean so remarkable.
2:05:29Just beneath the coastal waves lies one
2:05:32of the most diverse coral reefs on the
2:05:35planet. The Caribbean makes up only a
2:05:37small fraction of the world's total
2:05:40ocean area. Yet, it is home to around 75
2:05:44species of reef building coral along
2:05:47with more than 1,400
2:05:50species of fish and marine mammals. In
2:05:54all, more than 12,000 different species
2:05:57of marine life have been recorded in
2:06:00this region. But that diversity is under
2:06:04serious threat. According to the
2:06:06International Union for Conservation of
2:06:08Nature, around 1 in 10 reef building
2:06:11coral species in the Caribbean,
2:06:14including elkhorn and stagghorn coral,
2:06:18faces the risk of extinction. A typical
2:06:21tropical coral reef can hold up to a
2:06:25third of all the marine species known on
2:06:28Earth. Yet, its area covers less than 1%
2:06:32of the world's ocean floor.
2:06:36This is why every square meter of reef
2:06:39that is lost
2:06:41carries a loss far greater than its true
2:06:44size. The main cause of this wave of
2:06:47decline is coral bleaching. When sea
2:06:51temperatures rise abnormally by even 1
2:06:53or 2° C, the coral expels the symbiotic
2:06:58algae living within its own tissue.
2:07:01Those algae provide most of the coral's
2:07:04nourishment and color.
2:07:06Without them, the coral turns white and
2:07:10can starve within a few weeks.
2:07:13Another shark also patrols this part of
2:07:15the Caribbean in a way unlike any other.
2:07:20scalloped hammerhead. Its flattened,
2:07:23widened head is not just for looking
2:07:26different. It holds thousands of
2:07:28electrical sensors spread across its
2:07:30surface. With them,
2:07:34it can sweep a far wider band of the
2:07:37seabed as it searches for prey hidden
2:07:40beneath the sand.
2:07:42From this nesting beach, the current
2:07:46carries the story further.
2:07:48Not everything in the Caribbean stays in
2:07:50the Caribbean.
2:07:52Riding the same waters,
2:07:55a pod of common dolphin,
2:07:58which can number in the hundreds, is
2:08:00hunting together across the open ocean.
2:08:04They often travel with schools of flying
2:08:07fish.
2:08:09That gliding ability evolved as a direct
2:08:12response
2:08:14to the constant pressure of predation.
2:08:17A chase lasting millions of years has
2:08:21turned pectoral fins into a pair of
2:08:23wings.
2:08:26Silver Bank, the shallow waters north of
2:08:29the Dominican Republic, is where around
2:08:333,000 humpback whale gather each winter
2:08:36from December to April. They come here
2:08:39to mate and give birth in the warm
2:08:41water, safer for the young. A newly
2:08:45carved mother whale faces a harsh
2:08:47tradeoff. The warm Caribbean water is
2:08:51safer from orca, but holds almost no
2:08:54food.
2:08:56The calf must grow quickly enough
2:08:59to withstand the migration ahead before
2:09:02its mother runs out of her energy
2:09:04reserves.
2:09:07Throughout that journey,
2:09:09orca remain the greatest threat to the
2:09:11young calves in the pod. This is the
2:09:14true bridge that connects the Caribbean
2:09:17to the rest of the Atlantic Ocean.
2:09:20Not a border drawn on a map, but a
2:09:24living migration route repeated every
2:09:26year.
2:09:28It stretches from the warm waters where
2:09:30life begins
2:09:33to the cold waters where life is
2:09:35nourished.
2:09:37With danger waiting at both ends, the
2:09:40Gulf Stream carries warm water
2:09:44along with nutrients and tropical life
2:09:47running up the eastern coast of the
2:09:49United States and then crossing the
2:09:51whole Atlantic Ocean as far as Europe.
2:09:55Where the warm water meets colder water,
2:09:58eddies form, drawing nutrients up from
2:10:01the depths to the surface.
2:10:06That is why some stretches of sea along
2:10:09this current are among the richest in
2:10:11life in the Atlantic Ocean,
2:10:14even far from any reef or tropical
2:10:17shore.
2:10:19The Saraso Sea is the only sea on the
2:10:22planet bounded by no coastline at all.
2:10:26Its edges are defined only by the four
2:10:28currents that surround it. Spreading
2:10:31across more than 5 million square kilm
2:10:34of water. The foundation of an entire
2:10:37ecosystem here
2:10:39is sargasm.
2:10:42A seaweed that drifts freely for its
2:10:45whole life,
2:10:46never needing to anchor to the seabed or
2:10:49any rocky shore.
2:10:52For sea turtles,
2:10:54this mat of seaweed matters more than
2:10:56anyone once imagined.
2:10:59But the greatest mystery of this sea
2:11:01belongs to a species that almost never
2:11:03lives here year round. The freshwater
2:11:06eel of Europe and North America. This is
2:11:10the only known breeding ground for both
2:11:13of those endangered eel species.
2:11:16After years of maturing in rivers
2:11:18thousands of kilometers away, they turn
2:11:22back to this sea to spawn
2:11:24and then end their lives.
2:11:28A journey that can last up to 25 years
2:11:32only to end in the place where it began.
2:11:36Drifting among the seaweed mats is a
2:11:39creature often mistaken for a single
2:11:41jellyfish.
2:11:43The Portuguese man owe war. In truth, it
2:11:46is a colony of many specialized
2:11:48individuals
2:11:50living in close partnership. Each
2:11:53individual takes on its own function
2:11:56from floating
2:11:58to catching prey to digestion.
2:12:01Its tentacles carry venom strong enough
2:12:05to cause intense pain in a human. Even
2:12:09the most passive drifter of the open
2:12:12ocean can be a dangerous predator.
2:12:16Follow that current onward. More than
2:12:181,600
2:12:20km to the south. In the open sea, with
2:12:25no other land in sight,
2:12:27a small volcanic island rises.
2:12:31Ascension Island.
2:12:33Seabirds are not the only residents that
2:12:36turn this isolated island into a
2:12:39gathering point for life. Ascension
2:12:42Island is also the second largest
2:12:44nesting site for the green turtle in the
2:12:49entire Atlantic Ocean.
2:12:52Each breeding season, the island records
2:12:56between 7,500 and 30,000 nests. Each
2:13:00nest holding on average more than 120
2:13:04eggs.
2:13:06To reach here, each female must swim
2:13:10more than 2,400
2:13:12km from the waters of Brazil,
2:13:15returning to the very island where she
2:13:18once hatched. Once every 3 to 4 years,
2:13:22but the cost of that journey is high.
2:13:26Only about 1% of the hatchlings survive
2:13:29to adulthood.
2:13:31Those fortunate enough to cross that
2:13:33threshold can live up [music] to 80
2:13:36years.
2:13:38The island is home to the largest
2:13:40remaining population
2:13:42of the si turn in the Atlantic Ocean.
2:13:46This bird has an almost unimaginable
2:13:49ability. After leaving the nest, they
2:13:52can stay in the air for years on end,
2:13:55landing only on the water to feed and
2:13:58never touching down on land until they
2:14:00return to nest. But that population was
2:14:04once far larger. In the 1940s, this
2:14:07island was home
2:14:09to more than 2 million seabirds. The
2:14:12cause was feral cats brought to the
2:14:15island by people along with the
2:14:17harvesting of birds eggs in the past.
2:14:20From 1990 to 2013
2:14:23after the feral cats were removed from
2:14:26the island, the seabird population
2:14:29steadied once again.
2:14:31Even on this rare safe island,
2:14:35competition never disappears. It only
2:14:38changes form. The frigat bird cannot
2:14:41dive to catch its own fish. A form of
2:14:44organized theft playing out every day in
2:14:49the skies above the most peaceful island
2:14:52in the South Atlantic.
2:14:58Everything mentioned so far belongs to
2:15:01the surface layer of the Atlantic.
2:15:04But most of the life in this ocean lies
2:15:07nowhere near the surface.
2:15:10From 200 to 1,000 m down, there is a
2:15:14layer of water known as the twilight
2:15:16zone, where sunlight fades to a dim
2:15:19trace before vanishing entirely. This
2:15:23layer makes up only about 20% of the
2:15:25global ocean's volume. Yet, it holds up
2:15:29to 90% of the total fish biomass.
2:15:33In the entire world, roughly 10 billion
2:15:36tons,
2:15:39a food web almost invisible from the
2:15:42surface,
2:15:44feeding directly.
2:15:46The far more familiar surface predators,
2:15:50among them, the tuna.
2:15:52One of the strangest residents of this
2:15:55layer is the angler fish. In some
2:15:58species, the male is many times smaller
2:16:03and permanently fuses his living tissue
2:16:06with the female solely to sustain the
2:16:09ability to reproduce.
2:16:12Each night, billions of creatures from
2:16:14this deep layer swim up near the surface
2:16:18to feed, then descend again before dawn.
2:16:22Scientists regard this as the largest
2:16:25migration
2:16:26of any animal on the planet, repeating
2:16:29steadily every 24 hours. In the process,
2:16:33they carry carbon from the surface down
2:16:35to the deep, helping to lock away 2 to 6
2:16:39billion tons of carbon each year. In
2:16:43waters deeper still, the sperm whale can
2:16:47dive to more than 2,000 m,
2:16:50holding its breath for nearly 2 hours at
2:16:52a time just to hunt the giant squid.
2:16:56Most adult sperm whales carry circular
2:16:59scars on their skin.
2:17:02Marks left by the suckers of the very
2:17:05giant squid they once wrestled. It is
2:17:09evidence of a battle fought entirely in
2:17:12the dark.
2:17:15Even coral reefs do not exist only in
2:17:19sunlit tropical waters.
2:17:22They live by filtering the very nutrient
2:17:25particles drifting down from the layers
2:17:28above,
2:17:30including the remains of creatures that
2:17:32migrated through the night.
2:17:38Back near the surface, another migration
2:17:42far easier to observe is taking place
2:17:45just off Ascension.
2:17:49Each year, right around Easter,
2:17:53another migration unfolds off Ascension.
2:17:57Their gills are more than 30 times
2:17:59larger than those of most fish of
2:18:02similar size
2:18:04to take in enough oxygen for extremely
2:18:07fast swimming.
2:18:09Their hearts are up to 10 times larger
2:18:12and their blood is kept warmer
2:18:15thanks to a countercurren heat exchange
2:18:18system lying just beneath the muscle.
2:18:21This trait is found in only a very few
2:18:24fish, among them the great white shark.
2:18:27The yellow fin tuner operates like a
2:18:30machine optimized for one thing alone,
2:18:34speed, and the ability to sustain that
2:18:37speed across thousands of kilometers
2:18:40without rest.
2:18:42But even speed has its equal. In the
2:18:45waters around Ascension, there is also
2:18:48the wahoo, one of the fastest swimming
2:18:50fish in the ocean. It is also the
2:18:53fastest growing member of the entire
2:18:55mackerel and tuna family, reaching the
2:18:58ability to reproduce after only 12
2:19:01months of age.
2:19:03A prey fast, strong, and early to
2:19:06mature.
2:19:08What predator has the power to bring
2:19:10down a warmblooded creature
2:19:14of high speed evolved solely to flee?
2:19:19The answer does not come from speed.
2:19:22It comes from numbers
2:19:24and a sensory organ far beyond human
2:19:27imagination.
2:19:29The Galapagus shark, a predator that
2:19:32wins through sheer numbers,
2:19:35and a sensory tool that is almost
2:19:37impossible to believe.
2:19:40Nearly 2/3 of the Galapagus shark's
2:19:42brain
2:19:44is devoted to smell. Its sense of smell
2:19:48surpasses a human's by 10,000 times. It
2:19:51can detect a single drop of blood
2:19:53diluted across an entire Olympic
2:19:56swimming pool.
2:19:57But that is only its first line of
2:19:59defense.
2:20:01At closer range, hundreds of tiny
2:20:04sensory organs surround its snout
2:20:08known as the ampuli of lorenzini.
2:20:12They can detect the faintest electrical
2:20:14pulses
2:20:16given off by the very heartbeat and
2:20:18muscle movements of prey.
2:20:21It senses prey even when that prey lies
2:20:24motionless and hidden completely from
2:20:27view. There is nowhere to hide from a
2:20:30body that still holds life.
2:20:33In the waters around Ascension,
2:20:36the Galapagus shark has also been
2:20:38recorded showing a rare learner
2:20:41behavior.
2:20:43They learn to link the sound of fishing
2:20:45boat engines
2:20:47with the chance of leftover food and
2:20:51begin to gather whenever they hear that
2:20:53sound,
2:20:55even without ever seeing or smelling any
2:20:57prey.
2:21:09Nothing is left large enough to
2:21:11identify.
2:21:13But this is not what has drawn the
2:21:14sharks together in such numbers. The
2:21:17wahoo is only a warning, a light snack
2:21:21before a far larger hunt. The pack's
2:21:25true target is still swimming up ahead.
2:21:29But in these waters,
2:21:31everyone is hungry.
2:21:34After escaping the ring of Galapagus
2:21:37sharks,
2:21:39the tuna find their own lunch, a bait
2:21:42ball. The feeding happens so fast that
2:21:46if you miss it, no one would know what
2:21:49had just taken place. But one hunter is
2:21:52fast enough to keep up with it all. A
2:21:55maco shark, the fastest of the ocean's
2:21:58most fearsome predators. The feast ahead
2:22:02will fill its hungry stomach with prey
2:22:05weighing 400 kg.
2:22:08Through a process of convergent
2:22:09evolution, the tuna also has friction
2:22:12reducing skin
2:22:15muscle concentrated in the tail and the
2:22:19ability to warm its blood.
2:22:21Just like the mako,
2:22:24the high-speed predator has failed. But
2:22:27the story in the Atlantic is not over.
2:22:30Who do you think is truly the most
2:22:33formidable predator among these ocean
2:22:36giants?
2:22:38Leave your prediction before the answer
2:22:40is revealed.
2:22:48Midway through that journey
2:22:51lies a river,
2:22:55dangerous river in all of Africa.
2:23:01But before that fateful crossing,
2:23:05three smaller trials
2:23:09will decide who is strong enough to go
2:23:12on.
2:23:26In its first days of life,
2:23:31a gazelle calf gives off almost no
2:23:35scent.
2:23:39It is the first survival strategy
2:23:44that nature grants to species born on
2:23:47the open plains
2:23:52where there is nowhere to hide but
2:23:56stillness itself.
2:24:00It is not only the Thompson's Gazelle.
2:24:07Most antelope of the Serenetti rely on
2:24:11this same tactic in their first week of
2:24:15life.
2:24:22It is also why most young here are born
2:24:26almost all at once
2:24:29within a short window each year.
2:24:34the more calves that appear at the same
2:24:37time,
2:24:41>> the lower the odds that any single one
2:24:45is taken.
2:24:51But the spotted hyena does not rely on
2:24:55scent alone.
2:24:59It can go hungry for days on end.
2:25:02[laughter]
2:25:03And still it keeps searching.
2:25:11The mother's answer is not speed. It
2:25:14lies in a trade, [laughter]
2:25:25making herself the more visible target
2:25:29so her calf can stay invisible.
2:25:47>> [music]
2:25:49>> For a body weighing tens of kilograms,
2:25:53every chase burns a precious energy
2:25:55reserve.
2:25:57A reserve not easily replaced [music]
2:26:00in the dry season.
2:26:10When both water and prey run scarce,
2:26:17that is why a failed hunt [laughter]
2:26:22is more than a moment of disappointment.
2:26:26It is a calculation that ends in loss.
2:26:36A few minutes of useless pursuit
2:26:38[laughter]
2:26:40and the hyena is forced to give up.
2:26:44Not every predator accepts defeat so
2:26:47easily. [laughter]
2:26:49The hyena knows other chances remain.
2:26:54But once the birthing season passes,
2:26:58the struggle to survive [laughter] will
2:27:00no longer turn on the number of
2:27:03newborns.
2:27:15>> [music]
2:27:23[music]
2:27:26>> Not every relationship on the plains is
2:27:29hunter and hunted.
2:27:35Zebra eat the older, taller, tougher
2:27:38grass.
2:27:42Unknowingly clearing the way to the
2:27:44younger blades beneath,
2:27:48the wilderbeasts preferred food.
2:27:52In return, the overwhelming numbers of
2:27:55the wilderbeast herd
2:27:58become a natural shield for both
2:28:01species.
2:28:05On the other side of the food chain,
2:28:08every predator struggles too.
2:28:12The cheetah is the most efficient hunter
2:28:15here [music]
2:28:20and nearly half of its chases end in a
2:28:22catch.
2:28:25But efficiency does not mean safety.
2:28:30Leopards, hyenas, and jackals
2:28:35are always lurking, ready to steal that
2:28:38prize at any moment.
2:28:44And higher than all of them, vultures
2:28:47wait in the sky.
2:28:52No matter whose kill it was,
2:28:56a vulture can spot a carcass from a
2:28:59great distance
2:29:01thanks to [music] extraordinary
2:29:03eyesight.
2:29:07That gift makes it always among the
2:29:10first to arrive, though never the first
2:29:13to strike.
2:29:16No species in this food chain ever eats
2:29:20alone.
2:29:29At midday,
2:29:31when the ground bakes under the harshest
2:29:34sun of the day,
2:29:38most hunting comes to a halt.
2:29:44Both predator and prey shift to the two
2:29:48ends of the day,
2:29:51dawn and dusk,
2:29:55when the heat has not yet risen or has
2:29:58already faded.
2:30:02It is also why the decisive moments of
2:30:05the entire migration
2:30:13almost always fall within those same
2:30:16hours.
2:30:20[laughter]
2:30:24[music]
2:30:32The hyena is not only a hunter.
2:30:37Part of its diet comes from stealing or
2:30:41scavenging the kills of others.
2:30:45That double role, both hunter and
2:30:48scavenger,
2:30:52lets it live at higher densities
2:30:55than most other large predators [music]
2:30:58in the same region.
2:31:08Not every resident here takes part in
2:31:12the chase.
2:31:14Many water birds spend their whole lives
2:31:17along the banks of the Mara.
2:31:21Wholly dependent on this rare water
2:31:26to survive the dry season.
2:31:30The river ahead is not only a dangerous
2:31:33boundary,
2:31:35it is also a source of life for dozens
2:31:38of other species.
2:31:45Hunting alone, like the cheetah,
2:31:49means all the risk rests on a single
2:31:53animal.
2:31:55Fast but fragile.
2:32:02Hunting in a group like the lion spreads
2:32:06that risk across many,
2:32:12but the reward must be shared among more
2:32:15mouths.
2:32:18No strategy is ever fully superior.
2:32:25Each pays its own [music] price.
2:32:28and only constant adaptation
2:32:32keeps a species alive.
2:32:38Some species choose an entirely
2:32:41different strategy to survive in this
2:32:43[music] land.
2:32:48Banded monguses move in troops of
2:32:51dozens.
2:32:53a social structure strong enough to face
2:32:56predators many times their own weight.
2:33:02Group coordination, it turns out,
2:33:07is no privilege of the big cats alone.
2:33:14If every predator must struggle to
2:33:16survive,
2:33:19what truly lets one species master the
2:33:22game.
2:33:32The lamb is the only big cat that lives
2:33:35in a pride
2:33:41and maintains close social bonds between
2:33:44its members.
2:33:49That is what drives them to develop a
2:33:51different hunting tactic,
2:33:55dividing roles among members of the
2:33:57pride.
2:34:03something usually seen only in predators
2:34:06that live in groups.
2:34:11Her role is not to make the kill, but to
2:34:14drive the prey in the right direction.
2:34:26not choose at random.
2:34:31Search for the one that is slower,
2:34:33older,
2:34:38or drifting away from the protection of
2:34:40the group.
2:34:44A single wrong choice of target can cost
2:34:48the entire pride a meal.
2:35:14A full grown wilderbeast goes down.
2:35:19Enough to feed an entire lion family for
2:35:22days.
2:35:25Why do you think the lion is the only
2:35:28big cat to hunt as a group?
2:35:33Leave a comment below.
2:35:38But cooperation within a single species
2:35:41is only half the rule in this land.
2:35:50But the pressure from behind allows no
2:35:53hesitation for long.
2:36:00At last, the whole herd has been waiting
2:36:03for.
2:36:11[music]
2:36:21A grown crocodile can live for decades,
2:36:26returning to this very stretch of river
2:36:28with each migration.
2:36:32That patience is a kind of strategy
2:36:36other species cannot copy.
2:36:40Waiting for the moment then finishing it
2:36:44is its most successful tactic of all.
2:36:50Crocodile and lion will usually choose
2:36:54peace.
2:36:58Together they exploit a single weakness.
2:37:02The moment when sheer numbers are forced
2:37:05into one narrow stretch of river.
2:37:13But there are moments when a carcass
2:37:18lies stranded between the two
2:37:22sparking contests of power decided
2:37:26entirely by size.
2:37:30And what remains beneath the river is
2:37:34never lost.
2:37:36The dead feed the vultures in the sky,
2:37:41the fish below the surface, and even the
2:37:45smallest creatures.
2:37:48No one ever notices.
2:38:10This is the story of the moment. Prey
2:38:14strikes back.
2:38:33lead lioness of the Kinga pride.
2:38:40One of the most feared hunting dynasties
2:38:44in the Zambesi Valley, a pride is built
2:38:48around its females.
2:38:55Mother, daughters, sisters, four to six
2:38:59adults,
2:39:05hunting the same ground and raising the
2:39:08cubs together.
2:39:15Sappy sits at the top of that family.
2:39:18She is not the villain here.
2:39:25And fighting her off with everything you
2:39:27have
2:39:33is simply the price of one more day
2:39:36alive.
2:39:38Whose side are you on?
2:39:43in Zimbabwe's Zambzi Valley and further
2:39:47north in Tanzania's Rua National Park.
2:39:56And where prey gathers, hunters are
2:39:59already waiting.
2:40:04An entire web of life compresses around
2:40:08the last few pools.
2:40:15Grazers come to drink. Predators come to
2:40:19wait.
2:40:21Hyenas and vultures come for whatever is
2:40:25left. Nobody can avoid that appointment.
2:40:35Even knowing that the walk down to the
2:40:38water may be the last walk of their
2:40:42lives.
2:40:48Buffalo herds swell past a thousand
2:40:52animals,
2:40:58couring down the same old trails. One
2:41:02water source
2:41:06and thousands of prey animals forced out
2:41:10of hiding.
2:41:14The dry season redraws the stage,
2:41:20then pushes everyone out into the open.
2:41:26And on that stage, the rules are about
2:41:30to be rewritten.
2:41:34What do you think? Does the brutal heat
2:41:37of the dry season
2:41:42make an animal weaker or harder?
2:41:47Leave your answer below.
2:42:01His
2:42:16family has been standing at the edge of
2:42:19the water hole for almost an hour.
2:42:27Those stripes are not decoration.
2:42:33When a herd of zebra stands shouldertosh
2:42:36shoulder and moves, the black and white
2:42:40blurs into one shifting mass.
2:42:50and a hunter struggles to lock onto any
2:42:54single animal.
2:42:59That is why zebra are rarely alone.
2:43:03Their strength
2:43:05is in staying together. They take turns,
2:43:10one head down to drink, another head up
2:43:14on watch.
2:43:18Lora steps forward out of that circle of
2:43:22safety. Only a few steps.
2:43:28And in that instant, the darkness beside
2:43:31the grass moves.
2:43:37For most prey, this moment is the end.
2:43:55Laader twists his hips at the last
2:43:58possible second.
2:44:01One moment, but that is all La Rayada
2:44:04needs.
2:44:11The hunter is left alone at the water
2:44:14with an old lesson she has just been
2:44:16taught again.
2:44:22Sometimes turning to run is more
2:44:25dangerous than turning to fight.
2:44:30That was the first kick. There will be
2:44:33more. And not all of them are about to
2:44:36escape.
2:44:48But before other legs speak, you need to
2:44:52know why tonight is this tense.
2:45:02Lions are one of the few cats on Earth
2:45:06that choose to live in groups.
2:45:11The heart of a pride is its females,
2:45:15usually related by blood, hunting
2:45:18together and raising the pride's cub.
2:45:31Across the grass lies the Mazonga pride.
2:45:35Two lion families
2:45:39gnored by the same hunger.
2:45:53Hold it and you eat. Lose it and you
2:45:57wonder, hungry, growing weaker.
2:46:05Nobody understands that better than
2:46:08Sapp.
2:46:26By the time the Mazonga pride arrives,
2:46:36the best ground already has an owner.
2:46:50While the two prides are still measuring
2:46:52each other, another opportunity appears
2:46:55on the horizon.
2:47:02A wilderbeast herd is crossing open
2:47:06ground. In East Africa, these herds can
2:47:10number hundreds of thousands.
2:47:13At the height of the migration, a living
2:47:16river running across the savannah.
2:47:23Their migration is one of the greatest
2:47:26displays of life on the planet.
2:47:36Inside that enormous current, each
2:47:39animal is only a dot.
2:47:43And that is the whole strategy.
2:47:51A lion cannot eat a herd. It can only
2:47:55pick one. So the survival rule for a
2:47:59wilderbeast
2:48:01is very simple.
2:48:05But the moment one is cut out, every
2:48:09advantage flips in an instant.
2:48:19He has just covered a long stretch of
2:48:21ground and his legs are heavy. To the
2:48:25watching lioness, that is an invitation.
2:48:44When the lioness closes to within
2:48:46touching distance of his flank,
2:49:11>> [music]
2:49:16>> For La Sentinela, a female ostrich, legs
2:49:20are everything.
2:49:24alone. No herd, no crowd to disappear
2:49:28into.
2:49:30Only her, the nest, and the horizon wide
2:49:34open on every side.
2:49:41If she runs, she leaves behind an entire
2:49:45generation that has not yet [music]
2:49:48hatched.
2:49:54And not for many species, the drive to
2:49:57protect the next generation
2:50:00is stronger than the drive to stay
2:50:02alive. [music]
2:50:10On the African savannah, the spotted
2:50:13hyena is not the cowardly scavenger.
2:50:18[music]
2:50:23But reputation has made of it.
2:50:27They live in clans that can run to
2:50:30dozens of animals.
2:50:35Ruled by the females,
2:50:38they hunt for themselves far more often
2:50:41than they steal.
2:50:44And a hyena's jaws can crush a fiber.
2:50:57up.
2:51:16Lentinella returns to her nest. Her neck
2:51:21rises again.
2:51:24Her eyes sweep the horizon again.
2:51:29The watch has never stopped.
2:51:41But if every kick landed, this story
2:51:44would be a lie.
2:51:49The truth [music] of the savannah is
2:51:52harder than that.
2:51:55The giraffe is the tallest land animal
2:51:58alive.
2:52:00An adult can stand 5 to 6 m, high enough
2:52:05to look over the tops of most savannah
2:52:07[music] trees.
2:52:12But a giraffe calf has none of that yet.
2:52:15[music] At birth, it falls nearly 2 m to
2:52:18the ground, and within an hour, it has
2:52:21to learn [music] to stand.
2:52:23Those first hours are the most fragile
2:52:26of its life. Its legs still shake. All
2:52:31it knows is to stay close [music] to its
2:52:34mother.
2:52:37>> The Kavinga pride has found its target.
2:52:43[music]
2:52:46For the pride, this is the easiest meal
2:52:48the dry season can offer.
2:52:59Lions are masters at reading weakness.
2:53:03[music]
2:53:09That mother has seconds to decide.
2:53:13[music] Run and probably save herself
2:53:18or stand [music] and gamble everything.
2:53:24Reaguardiana,
2:53:26that is her name. [music]
2:53:37[music]
2:53:44[music]
2:53:53One kick does not win the war, but it
2:53:57buys hope. For a giraffe mother, time is
2:54:01worth more than victory.
2:54:04[music]
2:54:09Every second [music] her calf stays
2:54:11standing is a second it can grow a
2:54:14little more. Get a [music] little
2:54:17stronger, a little closer to the day its
2:54:20own legs are enough to defend it.
2:54:26Do you believe the love of a wild animal
2:54:30carries a soul just as pure as our own?
2:54:46Now back to the harshest place of all,
2:54:50the dry riverbed,
2:54:57where the season has squeezed out the
2:55:00last drop,
2:55:02leaving only stone cracked mud and heat
2:55:12overhead. Vultures have begun to circle.
2:55:21They read the savannah from above and
2:55:24they know that where an animal stands
2:55:27alone with nowhere left to go.
2:55:39No shade, no wind,
2:55:43only hard sunlight and the breathing of
2:55:47bodies getting ready for a
2:55:50confrontation.
2:55:56And there the Kvinga pride finds a lone
2:56:00buffalo.
2:56:08Local people have a name for these old
2:56:11solitary bulls. Digger boys.
2:56:21No buffalo is born alone. They grow up
2:56:24in herds of hundreds, sometimes
2:56:27thousands, sheltered by numbers their
2:56:31whole lives.
2:56:40>> [music]
2:56:44>> But time spares no one as a ball ages,
2:56:50slows,
2:56:58falls out of step with the herd's
2:57:00rhythm. He is left further and further
2:57:04[music] behind.
2:57:08until one day he wakes and finds himself
2:57:12alone on the plains.
2:57:16That is the fate of El Verano,
2:57:21an old warrior cut off from the herd.
2:57:27One more kick
2:57:30could end her hunting life for good.
2:57:46The Kvinga pride pulls out, leaving
2:57:50behind a meal that should have been
2:57:53served.
2:57:55[music]
2:58:00Between raw power and experience,
2:58:05which one do you think decides who
2:58:08survives?
2:58:15Ela Terrano is left standing alone in
2:58:19the dry riverbed.
2:58:25A fight with the shape of faith in it.
2:58:28David against Goliath, where one old
2:58:32soldier refuses to bow before an
2:58:34overwhelming crown.
2:58:43Sappy leads her pride away. Tonight the
2:58:47cavinda will sleep hungry.
2:58:51That hunger will push them further
2:58:54tomorrow into other country after other
2:58:57prey.
2:59:04[music]
2:59:13Then one afternoon the sky changes
2:59:17color.
2:59:23>> [music]
2:59:24>> The first rain of the season falls.
2:59:28Cracked ground drinks every drop. And
2:59:32[music] the dry season,
2:59:34the season that squeezed them all,
2:59:37finally loosens its hold. [music]
2:59:43This is the opposite of the night we
2:59:46began with. Now the water is back and
2:59:50the [music] savannah starts to heal.
2:59:54This is the eternal pulse of the
2:59:57savannah.
2:59:58Drought then rain, scarcity then plenty,
3:00:04death then birth.
3:00:14Every dry season is an examination
3:00:18sorting out who is strong enough to
3:00:20reach the next rains.
3:00:29So who is truly the strongest on these
3:00:34planes?
3:00:40The one who hunts
3:00:43or the one who survives.
3:00:47Five different species,
3:00:50five different situations.
3:01:03But all of them share one thing. Not
3:01:06[clears throat] one of them has fangs.
3:01:09Not one of them.
3:01:13All they have is legs.
3:01:18[clears throat]
3:01:21And those legs rewrote the rules.
3:01:26Sometimes the strongest is simply the
3:01:30one who dares to stand when every
3:01:34instinct says run.
3:01:40As for Sappi and her cave pride, the
3:01:45journey goes on.
3:01:52The rains give them another chapter to
3:01:55live. Because on these planes, Hunter
3:01:59and Hunted
3:02:03are both trying to do the same thing.
3:02:09Survive one more season. What do you
3:02:13think? Who really owns the savannah?
3:02:19The one who hunts
3:02:21or the one who survives? Leave your
3:02:24answer in the comments. The next
3:02:27survival stories are waiting.
3:02:32Three moments, three different ways to
3:02:36survive.
3:02:39One a personal sacrifice.
3:02:42One a cooperation within a simil
3:02:45species.
3:02:48and one a coexistence between two
3:02:51supreme predators.
3:02:56The Serengeti and the Messiah Mara do
3:03:00not reward the strongest.
3:03:05They reward the one that chooses the
3:03:08right strategy at the right moment.
3:03:15Next season's migration, that same rule
3:03:19will return. And no one.
3:03:32Not even those who know this land best
3:03:35can know the ending in advance.
3:03:43No species here exists apart from the
3:03:47rest.
3:03:55The strongest today may be another's
3:03:59meal tomorrow.
3:04:05And it is that very loop that keeps this
3:04:08whole land alive.
3:04:15And perhaps that is the greatest lesson
3:04:19of the whole migration.
3:04:27Survival is not winning forever, but
3:04:31winning long enough to earn one more
3:04:35chance.
3:04:39Uganda,
3:04:41the primate capital of the planet with
3:04:44more than 20 species
3:04:47on an area the size of a midsized
3:04:49American state.
3:04:5240 million years of evolution have piled
3:04:55up in one place.
3:04:57Zuka, a 54 kg male olive baboon,
3:05:03is about to do what no one has ever
3:05:05seen.
3:05:07And Tamu, a lioness, has just found the
3:05:11edge that all but guarantees her the
3:05:14win.
3:05:24Queen Elizabeth National Park
3:05:28stretches 1,978
3:05:33square kilm [music]
3:05:35along Uganda's western border.
3:05:38But size is not what makes this [music]
3:05:40place unusual.
3:05:43Nowhere else in Africa
3:05:48do four distinct ecosystems meet within
3:05:52a single boundary.
3:06:05Predators from each ecosystem push into
3:06:07the next.
3:06:10Prey must read danger signals from many
3:06:12directions
3:06:16and many kinds of threat at once.
3:06:21The pressure in Queen Elizabeth National
3:06:23Park
3:06:25runs higher than anywhere else [music]
3:06:26in Uganda
3:06:29and it produces extraordinary
3:06:31adaptations.
3:06:34the Uganda [music] cobb, the antelope
3:06:37native to this country,
3:06:40and built a refined collective defense.
3:06:46But the predators found the blind spot.
3:06:51[music]
3:06:54At Ishasha in the south of Queen
3:06:56Elizabeth National Park,
3:07:00a lion pride has rewritten the survival
3:07:03equation for every species
3:07:07within their range.
3:07:10[music]
3:07:12This is the world Zuka has to live in.
3:07:20The spot Tamu chose is not a comfortable
3:07:23one for a lion.
3:07:26The candalabra tree carries toxic sap
3:07:30and a spined trunk,
3:07:33but its branches are strong enough to
3:07:35hold a lion's solid body, and it grows
3:07:38at a height where the preise warning
3:07:40system stops working.
3:07:46At 5 m up, the predator's scent is
3:07:49carried off by the wind.
3:07:57[music] The cob herd below the tree is
3:07:59completely blind.
3:08:23Luckily, other sharp senses let the cob
3:08:26react in time.
3:08:29As for the lion, this new hunting method
3:08:31[music] may not be for them.
3:08:44The olive baboon has one of the most
3:08:46complex alarm call systems
3:08:49in the primate order. Each predator
3:08:53triggers a distinct response.
3:08:56An eagle, a leopard,
3:08:59but tree climbing lions are not in that
3:09:03catalog.
3:09:05The Ishasha pride has worked this
3:09:07advantage for a long time.
3:09:10Some troops have started changing their
3:09:12protocol.
3:09:18They move in sync in numbers large
3:09:21enough
3:09:22to break the ambush advantage of a
3:09:25predator overhead.
3:09:28Even so, this only cuts the losses.
3:09:32It does not reverse the equation.
3:09:37Most of the troop watches to avoid.
3:09:41Zuka watched and he understands the
3:09:44lions of this land. Tamu is no anonymous
3:09:48lion
3:09:50and Zuka will push that learning
3:09:52further.
3:09:53The goal is to flip the situation.
3:10:02Queen Elizabeth National Park is the
3:10:05crossroads of every direction of danger.
3:10:07But Uganda is more than this one
3:10:10national park. Across less than 400
3:10:13kilometers, running west to east, Uganda
3:10:18holds more primate species than any
3:10:20country
3:10:21on the African continent.
3:10:29>> [music]
3:10:35[music]
3:10:38>> More than 20 species,
3:10:42from the mountain gorilla
3:10:45to nocturnal primates
3:10:47most people have never heard of, have
3:10:50settled at a single geographic point.
3:10:53Windy, impenetrable forest is the first
3:10:55direction.
3:10:57310 square kilmters of forest in
3:11:00southwestern Uganda
3:11:03hold more than 459 mountain gorillas.
3:11:07Roughly half the entire population of
3:11:09the species on the planet.
3:11:12Bundi is dense enough, steep enough, and
3:11:16remote enough that no commercial hunter
3:11:19can reach it.
3:11:27Mountain gorillas share more than 98% of
3:11:30their DNA with humans. This animal shows
3:11:34social cognition.
3:11:36once thought to be uniquely human,
3:11:40such as individual recognition
3:11:43or social power structures.
3:11:46Built on the history of relationships
3:11:49between individuals,
3:11:51a silverback eats more than 30 kg of
3:11:54plants a day, a female more than 18. To
3:11:59meet that demand without stripping any
3:12:01one area bare,
3:12:04the silverback keeps a mental [music]
3:12:06map of the environment updated
3:12:08constantly
3:12:10by season,
3:12:13by the state of the plants, and by the
3:12:16makeup of the group moving with him.
3:12:20Gorillas climb trees for fruit up to 30
3:12:23m high when ground sources run out with
3:12:26the season.
3:12:28This is the same vertical axis the
3:12:30Ishasha lions exploit, but in the exact
3:12:33opposite direction.
3:12:35The lion climbs up to attack down. The
3:12:39gorilla climbs up to find more.
3:12:44The vertical axis in Uganda is not just
3:12:47geography.
3:12:48It is a survival script that every large
3:12:52species must answer in its own way.
3:12:58In Kibble forest about 200 km northeast
3:13:02of Bindi,
3:13:05evolution found
3:13:07a completely different answer.
3:13:17The chimpanzee bets on the social
3:13:20network.
3:13:23The kibble chimpanzee population has
3:13:26grown from 3,300
3:13:29in 1,997
3:13:34to more than 5,000 today.
3:13:38This is one of the few recorded cases of
3:13:41a recovering primate population this
3:13:44century.
3:13:46That recovery came from reduced hunting
3:13:48pressure and habitat restored year by
3:13:52year.
3:13:53Kibbal is a rare conservation signal,
3:13:57a population that is rising [music]
3:14:00rather than shrinking.
3:14:05Male chimpanzees have been recorded
3:14:08[singing and music] adopting
3:14:09and caring for unrelated young,
3:14:13a behavior extremely rare among animals.
3:14:17But within a chimpanzees long-term
3:14:19social network, caring [music] for an
3:14:22individual outside the bloodline is an
3:14:25investment in social standing.
3:14:28The chimpanzeee does not act on feeling
3:14:30alone,
3:14:32but on complex social calculation.
3:14:36Chimpanzees organize hunts by assigned
3:14:39roles,
3:14:41including individuals who block the
3:14:43escape, who chase, and who ambush.
3:14:47That group coordination has been studied
3:14:49for decades and keeps producing new
3:14:52evidence of the species collective
3:14:55planning.
3:14:59The gorilla bets on size, the
3:15:01chimpanzees, and attack vantage point.
3:15:05The baboons do not just lose a familiar
3:15:08food source.
3:15:11They lose a safe reference point in the
3:15:13survival map
3:15:15coded over generations and it turns into
3:15:18a source of danger. The troops reflexes
3:15:22have no fitting answer for.
3:15:29[music]
3:15:30Uganda has more than 1,000 bird species,
3:15:34the highest [music] density of bird
3:15:36diversity
3:15:38in Africa by area.
3:15:42The shoe bill hunts the papyrus swamps
3:15:45of Uganda.
3:15:47Its strategy is absolute stillness.
3:15:55The African fish eagle at the Kazinga
3:15:57channel works the vertical axis in the
3:16:01opposite direction.
3:16:04What makes the fish eagle effective is
3:16:07its map of the water. Where prey gathers
3:16:11by season,
3:16:13where it gathers by the hour,
3:16:17where it gathers as temperature and
3:16:19current shift. The fish eagle and the
3:16:22shoe bill both use patience,
3:16:25but through two completely different
3:16:27designs.
3:16:34The gray crowned crane appears on
3:16:37Uganda's national flag
3:16:40and on the grasslands of Queen Elizabeth
3:16:43National Park [music] every morning. The
3:16:46bird a nation chooses for its flag
3:16:50often reflects something [music] about
3:16:52how that nation understands itself.
3:16:56Uganda chose the crowned crane because
3:16:58it lives in every kind of terrain.
3:17:03Uganda holds savannah, forest border,
3:17:06grassland, riverbank,
3:17:09and because it's calm in all conditions
3:17:14is the image Ugandans want tied to their
3:17:16[music] identity.
3:17:19The diversity of Uganda's primates
3:17:21[music]
3:17:22is proof of the many different ways to
3:17:24adapt to nature.
3:17:27When the environment is pushed to its
3:17:29limit, where dry cliffs replace dense
3:17:32forest
3:17:34and resources become scarce.
3:17:36The mantle baboon has raised the idea of
3:17:39alliance into the ultimate survival
3:17:42strategy.
3:17:44Assimulation.
3:17:51A dog's imprinting window lasts 6 weeks
3:17:54after birth.
3:17:56During that window, the puppy's brain is
3:18:00building its map of species recognition.
3:18:03After 6 weeks,
3:18:05that map closes for good.
3:18:09The baboon is not choosing at random.
3:18:12They know that window exists.
3:18:18[music]
3:18:29Behaviorally, the puppy treats the
3:18:31baboon troop as its own social unit.
3:18:35Its brain learned this during the
3:18:37imprinting window. That social anchor
3:18:40once it is set cannot be erased later.
3:18:44In the language of primate behavior,
3:18:48grooming between two individuals is a
3:18:50signal of social alliance. This is a
3:18:54transaction. The dog sense of smell
3:18:57beats the baboons
3:18:59in low light and on terrain where scent
3:19:02carries before sound arrives.
3:19:05The sensory systems of both species
3:19:08combine into a danger detection network
3:19:12that reaches far beyond what either
3:19:14species has alone.
3:19:17The domestic dog, once potential prey
3:19:20for wild dogs, becomes an individual
3:19:24protected by a primate troop.
3:19:27The baboon actively creates the
3:19:30conditions for this relationship to
3:19:31exist by choosing the right partner, the
3:19:35right biological window, the right
3:19:38method of integration. Similar behavior
3:19:42has been recorded in many baboon and
3:19:45other primate populations across the
3:19:47continent.
3:19:49This is evidence of a level of social
3:19:51cognition,
3:19:54the ability to recognize a mutualism,
3:19:58opportunity, and act on [music] it with
3:20:00calculation. The baboon does not just
3:20:03take part in the transaction.
3:20:06This primate seeks it out actively and
3:20:09accumulates those transactions
3:20:11systematically.
3:20:13The baboon has to assess each specific
3:20:16dog,
3:20:18each specific imprinting window, each
3:20:22specific context to decide whether that
3:20:26transaction is worth making. The
3:20:28alliance is not only between baboon and
3:20:30dog. Alliance is the operating principle
3:20:35of the entire wild survival system. And
3:20:38the baboon will apply that principle in
3:20:41the next step.
3:20:48The danger in Queen Elizabeth National
3:20:50Park does not fall. It changes species.
3:20:55The leopard is the only animal in this
3:20:57ecosystem
3:20:59that uses trees both ways. Up to hide,
3:21:04down to attack, and works in light too
3:21:07low.
3:21:09for most prey to process visual
3:21:11information
3:21:13as fast as they do by day.
3:21:16The leopard's speed, the leopard's
3:21:18climbing ability,
3:21:20and the leopard's [music] timing all at
3:21:22once create a set of advantages.
3:21:26No prey species has a complete answer
3:21:29for the lion and the leopard both use
3:21:32trees as an edge, but on two completely
3:21:35[music] different logics.
3:21:37The lion uses the tree as a vantage
3:21:40point, climbing up to watch. Climbing up
3:21:43to erase the chance of being caught by
3:21:45[music] scent. The leopard uses the tree
3:21:48as a hide point,
3:21:51lying on a branch [music] quiet enough
3:21:54that prey passes below without knowing.
3:21:57The lion attacks vertically from above.
3:22:01The leopard attacks horizontally
3:22:04from a hidden position. Two tree
3:22:06climbing strategies are two kinds of
3:22:09danger that cannot be [music] solved by
3:22:12the same reflex. The olive baboon has
3:22:15alarm calls that tell leopard and lion
3:22:17apart. But an alarm call for a leopard
3:22:21at night
3:22:23requires the troop to detect the leopard
3:22:25first. And a leopard at night is fully
3:22:28optimized
3:22:29for not being seen before it attacks. An
3:22:33alarm call is only useful when there is
3:22:36enough information to set it off.
3:22:40At night, that gap is a [music] dead
3:22:42gap. The olive baboon troop sleeps in
3:22:45tall trees. To cut contact with ground
3:22:49predators at night, the tree is tall
3:22:52enough [music] that a leopard's climbing
3:22:54speed cannot reach them before the alarm
3:22:57goes off. Not a perfect solution, but
3:23:01enough to survive. to the next morning.
3:23:04Survival does not require perfection. It
3:23:07requires being good enough to get
3:23:09through one more night.
3:23:15Daylight gives the light back. Safety
3:23:19does not come back with it. The African
3:23:22crowned eagle
3:23:24specializes in attacking small primates
3:23:27and the young. The crowned eagle's grip
3:23:30force concentrates
3:23:32in talons strong enough to cause serious
3:23:35injury
3:23:37to a small primate in a single contact.
3:23:41This is a threat from the air that
3:23:44neither leopard nor lion can reproduce
3:23:48and that no ground reflex can [music]
3:23:50solve.
3:23:52The baboon's alarm call for an eagle
3:23:56pulls the troop down into low brush.
3:23:59The alarm call for a lion in a tree
3:24:02scatters the troop across the ground.
3:24:05Those two responses contradict each
3:24:07other. A predator smart enough will know
3:24:10how to exploit that contradiction.
3:24:13For prey at Queen Elizabeth National
3:24:16Park, every direction is a potential
3:24:19direction of danger. Within that
3:24:22four-way pressure system, no position is
3:24:25completely safe. Every decision to move,
3:24:29every sleeping spot, every foraging
3:24:32route is a trade-off, between kinds of
3:24:35danger.
3:24:37That pressure does not only drive
3:24:39individual adaptation,
3:24:42it drives social adaptation between
3:24:44species.
3:24:46This is not a fixed environment.
3:24:49This is an environment complex enough to
3:24:53push species to seek [music] solutions.
3:24:56No single species could find alone.
3:25:00Uganda does not reward the strongest. It
3:25:03rewards the one that reads the
3:25:05environment most accurately.
3:25:08The gorilla reads the terrain and
3:25:10chooses the fortress. The chimpanzee
3:25:13reads the social structure and chooses
3:25:16the network. The baboon reads the
3:25:19mutualism opportunity [music] and builds
3:25:21an alliance no one imagined. The shoe
3:25:24bill reads the water by the hour.
3:25:28The fish eagle reads the vertical axis
3:25:31in the direction opposite the lion and
3:25:35the pressure from four directions does
3:25:36not fall. It accumulates by the year by
3:25:40the generation.
3:25:42There is one more thing Zuka has not
3:25:44tried.
3:25:45Zuka is about to try it. It will be the
3:25:49thing no scientist
3:25:51believed could happen before it
3:25:53happened. Not because it is beyond the
3:25:56baboon's physical ability, but because
3:25:59to do it, the baboon has to read. A gap
3:26:05that the species entire
3:26:07evolutionary system was never asked to
3:26:10find. A gap in the armor of the top of
3:26:13the food chain.
3:26:15Not a physical gap, not a speed gap,
3:26:19a gap in the schedule. The specific
3:26:22window when the strongest in the
3:26:25ecosystem [music]
3:26:26is not present on the terrain. The
3:26:29baboon has learned over months of
3:26:31watching. That gap has always been
3:26:34there. It is only that no species was
3:26:37ever prepared enough to see it and bold
3:26:40enough in the cognitive sense to act in
3:26:45the brief window. It opens. The last
3:26:49light of day stretches the shadow of the
3:26:52candalabra across the grassland.
3:26:55In the next few minutes, everything will
3:26:58change.
3:27:00[music]
3:27:03In the first 6 to 8 weeks of life, a
3:27:07lion cub does not follow the pride when
3:27:09the lioness goes to hunt.
3:27:12Not by chance.
3:27:14The male baboon has watched long enough
3:27:17to know the lioness is not there.
3:27:21The male baboon has gathered enough
3:27:23information about a gap in the absolute
3:27:27protection of a single mother.
3:27:30An adult lioness has every physical
3:27:33advantage
3:27:35to decide the outcome against a male
3:27:38olive baboon.
3:27:45Speed, strength, and size all lean
3:27:48toward the lion. In the tree, that
3:27:52equation reverses completely. The baboon
3:27:55is on home turf with reflexes and a limb
3:27:59structure optimized
3:28:01for the three dimensions of the canopy.
3:28:04The lion cub is small, not heavy enough,
3:28:08not skilled enough at climbing, not
3:28:11strong enough to get itself out of that
3:28:12terrain. In the language of primate
3:28:15behavior,
3:28:17holding without killing is dominance.
3:28:21The baboon is controlling. The most
3:28:24valuable resource of its rival.
3:28:47Zuka controls the board.
3:28:56Both Zuka and Tamu's cub survived that
3:28:59day. The world goes on as if it had
3:29:03known this all along.
3:29:05This is not defensive behavior in the
3:29:08ordinary sense. This is not territorial
3:29:11behavior. This is a calculated
3:29:14preemptive strategy based on predicting
3:29:17another species behavior carried out on
3:29:20terrain chosen on purpose. This is
3:29:23evidence of situational intelligence,
3:29:27the ability to read a specific situation
3:29:30and act. A survival tool more effective
3:29:33than any other.
3:29:36And this is what Uganda gives to the
3:29:38species that live long enough to learn
3:29:40it. Zuka returns to the troop. There is
3:29:44no celebration. The troop keeps to the
3:29:47morning's foraging route as if nothing
3:29:50had happened. Because by the species
3:29:54survival logic, nothing really did
3:29:57happen except a decision that led to an
3:30:02outcome and life continues from that
3:30:05outcome. This is the most defining trait
3:30:08of real survival intelligence. There is
3:30:11no celebration. There is only the next
3:30:14step.
3:30:16Zuka sits on the outer edge of the
3:30:18troop.
3:30:20The spot with the longest view. That
3:30:23spot does not change. It does not mean
3:30:26nothing changed. The events of that
3:30:28morning were integrated
3:30:31into the store of behavioral data Zuka
3:30:35has built over months. That store took
3:30:38on one more point about the systems
3:30:40capability, one point about the rivals
3:30:42reaction and one point about the gap in
3:30:46the armor of the one with superior size
3:30:49and strength. The olive baboon takes no
3:30:52notes.
3:30:54The olive baboon does not talk.
3:30:57But the olive baboon remembers and that
3:31:00memory carries weight in every decision
3:31:03that follows.
3:31:05There is no crown to win in this
3:31:07ecosystem.
3:31:09Zuka [music] proved one thing that here
3:31:12intelligence has real measurable value.
3:31:16That value does not come from size or
3:31:19speed. It comes from reading the
3:31:22specific environment accurately enough
3:31:25to act in the right window of time on
3:31:28the right [music] terrain
3:31:31with the right strategy. That is what
3:31:33Uganda prepared Zuka for across a
3:31:37lifetime by setting a test that only
3:31:40intelligence can pass.
3:31:42Among Kibble's 13 dal primate species
3:31:46and among Uganda's more than 20 primate
3:31:49species, no species is like another. No
3:31:53strategy is like another. But all are
3:31:56doing the same thing,
3:31:59surviving in the best way they can.
3:32:02With the tools evolution prepared for
3:32:05them in an environment no one designed
3:32:08for them, the olive baboon troop at
3:32:10Queen Elizabeth's National Park
3:32:13does not mark time by the year. Each day
3:32:16is a set of new decisions,
3:32:19including new foraging routes, new
3:32:22sleeping spots. Reassessing the risk
3:32:26from predators
3:32:28and new individuals moving through the
3:32:30territory. Accumulated knowledge is not
3:32:33stored in language or symbol.
3:32:36It is coded into behavior patterns
3:32:39into reflexes tuned over many trials
3:32:45into a body memory of the terrain and of
3:32:48the behavior of specific individuals in
3:32:51that environment.
3:32:53The young baboons in the troop are
3:32:55learning through observation, [music]
3:32:58through following the older individuals,
3:33:01through testing each small behavior in a
3:33:03safe setting. This is how survival
3:33:06intelligence is passed on. When an older
3:33:09baboon dies, the troop loses more than
3:33:12one individual.
3:33:14It loses a living library of that
3:33:17environment. But that does not stop the
3:33:20troop from continuing to learn.
3:33:22Queen Elizabeth National Park wakes at
3:33:25dawn. Every species is doing the same
3:33:28first act of the day, connecting with
3:33:31its group. The gorilla silverback at
3:33:35Wendy begins the day with grooming
3:33:38inside the group. Grooming is not a
3:33:41ritual. It is the maintenance protocol
3:33:44for the social network.
3:33:47In a group where every individual
3:33:49depends on every other to survive,
3:33:52keeping that thread of connection
3:33:53matters more than anything that could be
3:33:56filled by food. A 220 [music]
3:34:00kilogram silverback with muscle mass
3:34:03enough to change the outcome of nearly
3:34:06any physical conflict in the ecosystem
3:34:09begins the day with silence.
3:34:12This is peace.
3:34:14At Kibal, the young chimpanzees are
3:34:17playing.
3:34:19Every fall, every gentle wrestle,
3:34:22every climb and drop [music] back down
3:34:26is a lesson. Empathy is not uniquely
3:34:29human.
3:34:30The male chimpanzee adopting a single
3:34:33parent young proved that with specific
3:34:36observational data, the young
3:34:39chimpanzees playing together are
3:34:41learning it every day from the body's
3:34:44reaction to touching another body, from
3:34:47the feel of the social thread, as it is
3:34:50made and as it breaks.
3:34:52The African fish eagle at the Kazinga
3:34:55channel stands on its familiar spot. A
3:34:58wateride branch used long enough that
3:35:01the talon marks are pressed into the
3:35:04bark. The predator repeats because that
3:35:07spot has been confirmed as optimal for
3:35:11the purpose of hunting. Tens of
3:35:13thousands of Uganda cobb move across the
3:35:16grassland
3:35:18north of Queen Elizabeth National Park
3:35:20along the same route. The herd has
3:35:23traveled for generations.
3:35:26The cob move together, ears up, eyes
3:35:30scanning, the sensory system running at
3:35:33a constant baseline.
3:35:35Tamu lies on the candalabra branch, an
3:35:39ordinary morning like any other.
3:35:42Tamu keeps nothing special from that
3:35:44morning.
3:35:46The order of the pride does not change.
3:35:51Life goes on. It does not mean Tamu
3:35:53lost.
3:35:55It means Tamu is doing exactly what
3:35:58evolution prepared her for. And what
3:36:01evolution prepared for Tamu is enough to
3:36:04survive in most situations. But most is
3:36:07not all. In the western lands of Uganda,
3:36:11female elephants move along a route that
3:36:14is both hope and responsibility.
3:36:17In 1980, the elephant population at
3:36:20Queen Elizabeth National Park was nearly
3:36:22wiped out. War and large-scale poaching
3:36:26drove the numbers down to a level. Many
3:36:29ecologists called [music] the point of
3:36:31no return. The ecosystem cannot run
3:36:35right without elephants, [music] and the
3:36:37elephants could not recover alone.
3:36:40Today, about 5,000 elephants live in
3:36:43Uganda.
3:36:44That population recovered thanks to a
3:36:46human decision to protect it and let
3:36:49nature do the rest. 40 years.
3:36:53A part of one human lifetime. Enough
3:36:56time for a species near extinction.
3:37:00To recover to ecological function, an
3:37:03ecosystem can recover.
3:37:06If humans let it recover, the baboon's
3:37:09enemy is not the lion. The baboon's
3:37:12enemy is a strand of snare wire. It is
3:37:16the cleared field. It is the new road
3:37:18cut across the territory. The troop has
3:37:21used for generations under the constant
3:37:24pressure bearing down on the environment
3:37:26and the animals. [music]
3:37:28Conservation decisions have to be made
3:37:31without pause. This is the greatest
3:37:34battle in Uganda.
3:37:36Humans are the variable that decides the
3:37:38outcome. Ecoourism in Uganda brings in
3:37:42revenue every year. About 80% of that
3:37:46revenue [music]
3:37:46is tied directly to the protected areas,
3:37:50including the Bindy Forest with its
3:37:53gorillas. The olive baboon proved this.
3:37:56Among Uganda's more than 20 primate
3:37:58species, no species is like another. The
3:38:01gorilla chooses strength and
3:38:03impenetrable terrain.
3:38:07The chimpanzee chooses the social
3:38:09network and group size. The olive baboon
3:38:13chooses flexibility and mutualism and
3:38:15situational intelligence.
3:38:18But all are doing the same thing,
3:38:21surviving in the best way they can with
3:38:24the tools evolution prepared for them in
3:38:28an environment no one designed for any
3:38:31species.
3:38:33And all those answers from the simplest
3:38:36to the most complex deserve to exist.
3:38:40This is the image that begins this
3:38:42story. And this is also the image that
3:38:45ends it.
3:38:47Tomorrow morning, Tamu will be on that
3:38:49branch again. The baboon troop will move
3:38:52through that area again. Uh
3:38:57where intelligence chose not to run.
3:39:02No one is born a legend. A legend is
3:39:05forged only in battle. Every scar
3:39:08carries a price paid, and only the
3:39:11strongest are remembered. Sunlight pours
3:39:14down on the Serengeti,
3:39:17like molten copper spilling across the
3:39:19plane. There is only the heavy heat
3:39:22shimmering off the ground in waves,
3:39:25invisible, and then a roar rips the
3:39:28silence apart. That roar carries nearly
3:39:315 miles about 8 km across the savannah
3:39:36[music] echoing back from distant acacia
3:39:39stands trembling on the horizon. The
3:39:42male lion who rules here with a man like
3:39:45a crown thick and dark.
3:39:49The unmistakable sign of surging
3:39:52testosterone and countless life or death
3:39:55battles survived has held this pride for
3:39:59more than 2 years. Yet
3:40:03the average reign of a male lion lasts
3:40:06only 2 to 3 years. The challenger is a
3:40:09coalition of nomadic male lions. They
3:40:12are younger, hungrier, and far more
3:40:15reckless. Each [music] weighs more than
3:40:18180 kg.
3:40:20Muscles rippling beneath tanned hide,
3:40:22darkened by years of rain [music] and
3:40:25sun. They close the distance
3:40:28under the [music] scorching midday heat.
3:40:31Every step is slow and calculated, as if
3:40:34counting down to the inevitable.
3:40:37In the kingdom of the Serengeti, power
3:40:40is taken by muscle,
3:40:43by fang, by claw, and by blood.
3:40:47Far off below a dense stand of acacia.
3:40:52A shape slips through the [music] tall
3:40:53grass without a sound. This is the
3:40:56leopard, the most solitary hunter on the
3:41:00Serengeti [music] plane. Its spotted
3:41:02coat blends perfectly [music] into the
3:41:06interplay of sun and shade. Filtered
3:41:09through the canopy above, the [music]
3:41:11leopard bolts forward, accelerating up
3:41:14to 58 km hour [music] in a burst that
3:41:19blurs the eye. Its jaws lock onto the
3:41:22prey with a [music] bite of about 300 lb
3:41:25per square in.
3:41:28Smaller than a lion's, but precise
3:41:30enough to end everything in an instant.
3:41:33Yet on the Serengeti, [music] bringing
3:41:35down the prey is only half the battle.
3:41:39The smell of fresh blood spreads fast
3:41:42across the open grassland,
3:41:44and the lion is never far away. A male
3:41:48lion
3:41:50appears from behind the stand of trees,
3:41:53moving in with heavy, menacing steps.
3:41:57The leopard does not choose to fight. It
3:41:59knows its own weight.
3:42:02Is [music] not even half its rivals.
3:42:04Instead, it does something
3:42:06extraordinary. Clamping its jaws
3:42:10around a carcass nearly twice its own
3:42:12body weight
3:42:14and hauling it up into the sky high into
3:42:18a tall tree. The male lion stands below,
3:42:22lifting its eyes but cannot follow. This
3:42:25is the leopard's strategy.
3:42:28When you cannot win by strength, you win
3:42:31by cunning and [music] by agility. But
3:42:34there is another power on the Serengeti
3:42:36plane. Not as strong as the lion.
3:42:40Not as fast as the leopard, but smarter
3:42:43than both of them. The spotted hyena.
3:42:47[music] The most misunderstood carnivore
3:42:49in Africa. Most people assume
3:42:53they are only scavengers feeding off the
3:42:56spoils of other species. The truth
3:43:01is far more astonishing. Hyenas [music]
3:43:03are extremely effective hunters and they
3:43:06hold the most complex social structure.
3:43:10Among land mammals, their jaws produce
3:43:13the strongest bite force. among land
3:43:16carnivores,
3:43:18enough to crush a femur. But the hyena's
3:43:21most [music] fearsome weapon is not in
3:43:23its jaws. It is in its brain. Hyenas
3:43:27live in fish fusion societies, groups
3:43:31that constantly split.
3:43:34And
3:43:35we walked through the rurest moments of
3:43:38raising young in the wild in the
3:43:41Okavango Delta.
3:43:45Which animal today changed how you see
3:43:49the wild world?
3:43:51Was it the mother buffalo protecting her
3:43:55calf
3:43:57or the hunting lesson the mother lion
3:44:00taught her cubs?
3:44:04Share your thoughts in the comments
3:44:06below. Your understanding is thanks
3:44:10enough for these animals.
3:44:14Don't forget to like and subscribe to
3:44:18join me on the next field trip,
3:44:22decoding the wild's most mysterious
3:44:26codes of survival.
3:44:33For more wild animals, check out African
3:44:37Saver,
3:44:39nature's greatest fight for survival.
3:44:43or lion versus hippo.
3:44:47Zambia's deadliest fights for survival.

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