African Savannah | Greatest Fights In The Animal Kingdom (Full Episode) | Wildlife Documentary

0:03Under a punishing sun,

0:07the savannah is about to stage a battle

0:10for survival

0:12at its harshest.

0:16This is the collision between lion

0:19versus crocodile.

0:22Before we follow the fearless prey to

0:25the line between living and not.

0:37[music] Tell us in the comments where

0:39you are watching.

0:49[music]

0:54Now to the greatest fights of the

0:57African savannah.

1:05At the end of the dry season, the river

1:08does not disappear.

1:10It shrinks.

1:15>> [music]

1:22[music]

1:26>> Elephant herds are good at one thing

1:30no other species here can manage. That

1:34sand well does not stay theirs.

1:41[music]

1:45Where water still holds, density becomes

1:48the problem.

1:52The dry season does not add a single

1:55predator.

1:57It pulls everything closer together

2:00until the safe distance is gone.

2:06On the dead branches along the bank,

2:08maribou stalks and vultures are already

2:11waiting.

2:14Under the sand near the bank, there is a

2:18nest.

2:20For 3 months, she barely eats.

2:24A full-g grown Nile crocodile can go

2:28months without a meal

2:31simply by dropping her metabolism to the

2:34lowest setting it has.

2:38In other animals, patience is a

2:41temperament.

2:43In this one, it is anatomy.

2:49The temperature inside that sand pit

2:52decides the sex of the whole clutch.

2:57A degree warmer and the clutch leans

3:00male.

3:02A few degrees cooler and the whole

3:04clutch comes out female.

3:08Nile monitors work the bank, reading

3:11scent in the sand

3:15with a forked tongue,

3:19holding the position of every nest in

3:22memory for weeks.

3:25[music]

3:30[music]

3:39On land, a crocodile is still a serious

3:43opponent.

3:48There is no territorial agreement

3:50between these two species.

3:53Neither of these two is truly a predator

3:56of the other. They just keep testing a

4:00border, and that border is the water

4:03line.

4:15>> [music]

4:24>> A baboon troop can run to more than 100

4:28animals.

4:30They eat grass, fruit, insects, and any

4:34protein they can reach.

4:41Reptile eggs are on that list.

4:45Two youngsters cut across a fallen

4:47trunk.

4:49They reach the sand mound ahead of the

4:52troop.

4:54Taking food another species produced

4:57costs almost nothing. The reward is the

5:01richest thing available this season.

5:06Protein, fat, and water.

5:12But no meal out here is free. The whole

5:16troop sees it. The dominant male sees it

5:20first.

5:23He does not come to share. He comes to

5:28take all of it.

5:44He gets out for the whole time she was

5:47closing in.

5:49The troop stayed silent.

5:52Not one alarm call.

5:56Baboons have dozens of distinct calls,

5:59and a large share of them exist to warn.

6:04Not this time.

6:06Strength wins a meal.

6:11Only trust keeps a place in the troop.

6:23The cheetah relies on trust in a whole

6:27new way.

6:30It has kept a watchful eye on the river

6:32for quite a while.

6:37>> Setting a single paw down is a point of

6:41no return.

6:47>> [music]

6:58>> A single second of letting their guard

7:01down,

7:05the odds of making it through dropped to

7:08zero. His friend perished in this river

7:14crossing.

7:20This will be a lesson for him and the

7:23next generation when crossing this river

7:26again.

7:33When the dry season pulls the water

7:35down,

7:37the one who moves first keeps his life.

7:46But water has a second face.

7:50If falling water can cost a strong

7:53animal his standing,

7:56what does rising water take and from

8:00whom?

8:09The answer comes early.

8:18Elephants hear sound too low for human

8:21ears

8:23and pick up vibration traveling through

8:25the ground.

8:30A storm hundreds of kilometers away

8:33still leaves a trace in the soil under

8:36their feet.

8:41The rain lands on the high ground

8:43upstream.

8:55Within hours, a riverbed

8:59that was a white sandbar becomes fast

9:03water.

9:06[music]

9:07The matriarch turns the herd toward

9:10higher ground.

9:12But between the herd and that high

9:15ground is a river that has just filled

9:19again. [music]

9:27Elephants swim well, better than almost

9:30any other large land.

9:37The adults line up on the upstream side,

9:42using their own bodies as a wall for the

9:44calves behind them.

9:48This is how the species [music] has come

9:50through countless flood seasons.

9:53The fresh mud is slick enough that a

9:56calf cannot keep 4 ft under it.

10:00The family loses each other in symptoms.

10:08Days later, the flow drops.

10:13But the land does not go back to what it

10:15was, where the current turned hardest.

10:20The riverbed has been scoured out by

10:22several meters.

10:25Water settles into those hollows as a

10:28chain of deep pools.

10:32Open water is Nile crocodile country.

10:38The way this land divides power is

10:40simple.

10:42Every species is strongest [music] in

10:44one medium

10:46and weaker the moment it steps out of

10:49that medium.

10:51Lions can swim.

10:55Lions simply hate doing it.

10:59Wet fur makes a lion heavier,

11:03slower, and strips away the burst of

11:06speed, which is this species single

11:10largest weapon.

11:12For a lion, deep water is the last

11:16option on the list.

11:18Impala

11:27understand that rule better than

11:29anything else out here. They drink fast.

11:33They drink in turns.

11:38And none of them stands at the water

11:40line longer than it has to.

11:44Here time spent beside water is the risk

11:48itself

11:50counted in seconds.

11:54And this stretch of river changes owner

11:57by the hour. [music]

12:07Through the day, hippos lie submerged to

12:11keep their skin from splitting in the

12:13sun.

12:16No species here owns the river outright.

12:23African wild dogs do not avoid water.

12:27[music]

12:30They use it. The pack will go straight

12:33in to pin prey many times its own size.

12:40For this species, open water is a second

12:44wall to drive prey against.

12:52Greater kudu sit among the largest

12:55antelope in Africa.

12:58A fullgrown ball reaches close to 300

13:03kg.

13:05The most remarkable thing about this

13:07species is not the horns. It is the

13:10ears.

13:12Kudu ears are unusually wide for the

13:15size of the head and they rotate

13:18independently.

13:20This animal hears a hunting pack long

13:23before it sees one.

13:26White stripes down the flank break up

13:30the outline of the body and fold it into

13:33the shadow of dead branches.

13:38>> [music]

13:38>> That is why greater kudu are called the

13:42gray ghost of Africa.

13:45An adult kudu can clear more than 2 and

13:48a2 m.

13:51Very few predators on the savannah can

13:54follow that.

13:56The list of species that hunt greater

13:58kudu

14:00is short but every name on it carries

14:04weight.

14:06Lion, spotted hyena,

14:10and African wild dog.

14:14Kudu have one weakness.

14:17The species accelerates hard over a

14:20short distance,

14:23but it is not built for the long runs.

14:26If the chase runs long enough,

14:29every advantage it has expires.

14:38African wild dogs are the most efficient

14:41hunters in Africa.

14:44A single African wild dog

14:48weighs around 25 [music]

14:50kg.

14:52More than 10 times lighter than a ball

14:55could do. The success comes from

14:59organization.

15:02Starting with how the pack decides

15:05anything at all.

15:11As the dogs close, the kudu accelerates.

15:24That is exactly what the pack was

15:27waiting for.

15:31Swimming well is one thing. Having

15:34something to push against is another.

15:38The kudu does the opposite of what its

15:41own instincts usually say.

15:46It does not look for a way out onto the

15:49bank.

15:51It stays in the one place where the pack

15:54cannot use its [music] strength.

15:57The standoff ends in failure,

16:11a war of attrition.

16:14In this kind of fight,

16:17both sides start losing from the first

16:20second.

16:22The pack loses energy and time

16:26and loses the chance to go find an

16:29easier animal somewhere else.

16:35The kudu loses strength far faster,

16:40but it only has to stretch this out long

16:44enough.

16:46For African wild dogs, water is a

16:49weapon.

16:52For greater kudu, water is a shield. For

16:56lions,

16:58water is simply something lying across

17:01the route

17:04to be crossed when nothing else is left.

17:11A pride raised on dry savannah, forced

17:15into water for the first time, has

17:18nothing to fall back on but instinct.

17:23[music]

17:27Out of every big cat, only one species

17:32lives as [music] a group.

17:34The lion pride is the single exception.

17:42and it is built on the females.

17:46The lionesses in a pride are usually

17:49sisters

17:51and they stay where they were born for

17:53life.

17:55The males do not.

17:58At a certain age, they are pushed out

18:02and have to find another pride to take.

18:09The evicted males usually form

18:12coalitions

18:14holding the bond together with head

18:17rubbing, necklicking

18:21and with a roar that carries close

18:24[music] to 10 km.

18:30But the most interesting part sits with

18:34the females.

18:36Lionesses in the same pride tend to come

18:40into season at almost the same time

18:45and give birth within weeks of [music]

18:47each other.

18:50In this territory, something has just

18:53happened.

18:56A new male coalition has beaten [music]

18:59the old one

19:03and taken control of the pride. [snorts]

19:07The new males will remove the unweened

19:10cubs [music] of the previous generation.

19:14So, the females carry their litters

19:16sooner.

19:20This is one of the coldest mechanisms in

19:23the natural world.

19:27And it exists for a very specific

19:30reason.

19:32A female raising cubs will not breed

19:35again for close to 2 years.

19:39And a male coalition typically holds a

19:43pride for about 2 years

19:47before another coalition takes it away.

19:56A lioness with cubs has no option left

20:00but to move them out of the territory

20:02and they have to go before it is too

20:05late.

20:07They leave at the worst possible time of

20:09year to be traveling.

20:20The wet season does not arrive gradually

20:23in this country.

20:25It arrives like a door thrown open.

20:33[music]

20:36The whole land is redrawn in a matter of

20:39days.

20:42>> [music]

20:44>> The returning water also puts the

20:46largest herds in Africa on the moon. The

20:50shallow crossings

20:53hold the highest density of crocodiles

20:56anywhere on the river.

20:59This species does not have to go looking

21:02for the migration.

21:05It only has to know where the migration

21:08will pass.

21:13The danger is not that the river is

21:15deeper.

21:19It is that the river is opaque and

21:22impossible to read.

21:27On the Mara River, researchers set out

21:30to measure the scale of it.

21:34In an average year, more than 6,000

21:38wilderbeast drown at the crossing

21:41points,

21:44not from predation, but from crowding

21:47and exhaustion.

21:50That mass is the equivalent of nearly 10

21:53blue whales going into a single river

21:57year after year.

22:00And none of that mass disappears.

22:05The river takes then hands it back to

22:08its own system.

22:14Kai water is also the season when the

22:16Nile crocodile

22:18gets every advantage back.

22:22Along both jaws of a Nile crocodile sit

22:26thousands of tiny sensory pits. Those

22:31pits read pressure in the water.

22:35An animal putting a foot down several

22:38meters away makes one very small ripple

22:44and the crocodile receives everything it

22:47needs to know.

22:50In other words, the thing that makes

22:52this river blind for every other species

22:57means nothing at all to the animal lying

23:00under it.

23:04In this country, what cannot be seen is

23:08what should be feared.

23:12A motionless Nile crocodile [music] can

23:15hold its breath for more than an hour.

23:20Time is the one asset it holds more of

23:24than anything around it.

23:26[music] A crocodile cannot chew because

23:29its teeth are built only [music] to

23:32hold.

23:34So, anything it catches has to be

23:37gripped and rolled until a piece comes

23:40away small enough to swallow.

23:48And for the same reason, every species

23:51that has to cross this river now is

23:54playing a hand that was dealt face down.

24:00Not because the opponent is stronger,

24:04but because the opponent picked its seat

24:07first.

24:18The adults know exactly what lies

24:21between them and the far bank.

24:24For a pride, deep water is where every

24:28advantage

24:29this species has

24:32stops working at once.

24:35Even for a grown lion, swimming deep

24:38water is a rare thing.

24:41Behind them is a territory that has just

24:44changed hands.

24:47There is no other option left to weigh.

24:54Cubs can swim by instinct,

24:58but only well enough not to sink.

25:02Keeping the cubs against her side

25:06is the whole of what a lioness can do in

25:10a situation like this.

25:21[music]

25:26[music]

25:31The strike comes from below.

25:39The calls that follow are goodbyes.

25:43The river does not answer.

25:50Half of all lion cubs

25:54do not survive their first year.

25:58Every cub that reaches hunting age is a

26:03win for the whole pride, not for one

26:06mother alone.

26:08And every cub that does not get there is

26:11a gap the whole pride carries.

26:16The ones that are left take comfort in

26:19each other

26:21with exactly the gestures that have held

26:24this pride together all along.

26:29For a pride, losing a cub is not only

26:32losing an animal.

26:35Wow.

26:37Every litter is close to a 2-year

26:40investment by the whole pride.

26:43From birth to the day a cub can hunt for

26:47itself.

26:49The hard part is that the pride did

26:52everything right.

26:55Leaving a territory that had just

26:57changed hands was the correct decision.

27:08Staying tight to the mother in the water

27:11was the correct decision.

27:15Doing everything right can still not be

27:18enough.

27:20And that is the first lesson.

27:26The savannah teachers.

27:29In the first story, falling water

27:33exposed an opening

27:35[music]

27:39and the price was the standing of the

27:42one who took it.

27:45[music]

27:46In the second story, rising water became

27:50a shield

27:52and the price was the condition of an

27:56entire hunting pack.

27:59In the third story, the water took

28:02nobody's side,

28:04and the price was counted in a life.

28:10For the cubs that remain, that crossing

28:14did not end when they reached the bank.

28:18Lions learn their territory by walking

28:22it alongside older animals.

28:28Which roots are safe? Which pools to

28:31avoid?

28:33Which stretch of river to never enter?

28:38All of it is passed down that way.

28:44Which means today's lesson will travel

28:47with this pride for years.

28:55The cubs that survive will lead their

28:58own litters around the stretch of river.

29:06Even though none of them will remember

29:09exactly why.

29:12On the African savannah, experience is

29:16not written down anywhere.

29:21It is only paid for by the ones that do

29:25not arrive.

29:28It is not the water level that decides

29:32how dangerous a place is.

29:46It is the fact that the level has just

29:49changed.

29:54And not one of those three stories has a

29:57villain in it.

30:00The crocodile was defending a nest. The

30:03wild dogs were feeding a litter. The

30:06pride was looking for somewhere safer.

30:16The only thing repeated in all three is

30:20the water and the way it rewrites the

30:22rules. Every time the level moves, every

30:27turn of season opens a gap.

30:34On the African savannah, no species is

30:37exempt from the cost of their death.

30:43Including the strongest animal in the

30:46country, the only fixed thing in this

30:49land

30:52is that the water will keep rising and

30:55falling.

31:00And every time it changes state, the

31:02entire order of power around it is

31:06arranged again from the start.

31:10No species here chooses the season it is

31:13born into.

31:16It only chooses how to answer when that

31:19season turns.

31:23This land promises nothing about

31:26fairness.

31:29It runs on one rule. Anything that gives

31:33life can take life away.

31:39A nest under sand. A deep stretch of

31:43river. One crossing and no other.

31:50The strongest animal in all three

31:52stories is also the one that lost the

31:55most.

31:59In this country, sitting at the top of

32:02the food chain does not mean safety.

32:08[music]

32:10It only means paying somewhere else. The

32:14only thing left to do is keep moving.

32:20on the African savannah. That is the

32:23real definition of winning.

32:29So after three stories, who do you think

32:33understands the water best?

32:39the species that lives in it, the

32:43species that dares to go in,

32:49or the species that has no choice but to

32:52cross it.

32:56Leave your answer in the comments. There

32:59are many more remarkable places still

33:03untold.

33:11This is the Crackato volcano

33:16on the night of September 4th, 2026

33:22right as its eruption was reaching its

33:26peak subclinian phase.

33:31video footage courtesy

33:34of the Tik Tok account Indomi Goring.

33:38In the video, we can witness

33:44a truly extraordinary sight.

33:48Crackato unleashing a sustained lava

33:52fountain,

33:55soaring up to 1,100

33:58m.

34:00or roughly 3,69

34:05ft.

34:08Yet in truth, the lava fountains from

34:12Crackato's most powerful explosive

34:15events

34:20since 1883,

34:22reached even higher heights,

34:26quite likely hitting the 1,500

34:30m mark.

34:34While that number sounds out of this

34:37world,

34:39when stacked up against other volcanoes

34:44such as Wuang or Lewi

34:49back in 2024,

34:52those events produced

34:55lava fountains that reached vastly

34:59higher.

35:02Regardless, the good news is this

35:05intense surge

35:08was short-lived.

35:11Right now, Krakatau is still actively

35:15erupting,

35:18except its current intensity has lost

35:21its punch compared to earlier.

35:26Of

35:29course, it will take a little time to

35:31nail down the exact figures

35:35regarding the true scale of this

35:37eruption.

35:40Though my initial estimate

35:43placed it at the very low end

35:50of the volcanic explosiveness index 4.

35:56There is one metric with a fairly solid

35:59correlation to eruption magnitude

36:03that we can rely on. the total amount of

36:06sulfur dioxide gas dust released into

36:09the atmosphere.

36:15This time around, the explosive surge

36:19released

36:21roughly 350,000

36:24metric tons of sulfur dioxide,

36:29putting it on par with the eruption of

36:31the Kilbuko volcano back in 2015.

36:37However, my take is

36:43that Crackkottow actually yielded a

36:46smaller volume of lava than Kaluku.

36:51The reason is that the sulfur dioxide

36:55output per cubic meter of magma

37:00tends to be inversely proportioned to a

37:04degree with the silica content.

37:09The eruptive material from Kalbuko

37:13in 2015 was predominantly andic

37:20whereas for crackkatau in 2026.

37:26I suspect it ranges from silicarrich

37:29basaltt

37:31to low to medium grade basultic andite.

37:37This still aligns seamlessly

37:44with the volcanic explosiveness index 4

37:47classification.

37:51I also want to remind everyone

37:54that by definition a volcanic

37:57explosiveness index 4

38:01is 100 times smaller than an index six.

38:09which was the level reached by Krakattow

38:13back in 1883

38:15and Honda Tonga in 2022.

38:20While Crackkatau put on an incredible

38:22explosive display this time,

38:26its scale does not even make the cut for

38:29the top 50 largest explosive eruptions

38:32on Earth.

38:37since 1883,

38:41ranking right around 64th place.

38:57[music]

38:59After closely examining Crackkatau's

39:01appearance following the 2026 eruption,

39:07it is clear that the volcanic peak has

39:09undergone a striking transformation.

39:16To begin with, the volcanic cone formed

39:19after the 2022 eruption

39:24appears to have been completely blown to

39:27smitherines.

39:30likely due to the second peak explosive

39:33phase

39:36occurring around 400 a.m. on September

39:395th.

39:41It is not that the entire island of Anak

39:44Krakatau disappeared,

39:47but rather just the low profile volcanic

39:51cone

39:53that had risen from the crater since

39:552022.

39:58In addition, a portion of the crater rim

40:04dating back to the 1950s

40:08was also torn away,

40:12leaving Anarch Crakatau,

40:15shrinking on one side while expanding on

40:19another.

40:22It shrunk because constant explosions

40:28pulverized a massive amount of rock.

40:33But subsequently, a lava flow

40:37boasting an unusually large volume,

40:43at least for Crackot's scale, filled in

40:47the lost area.

40:52while pushing the island farther into

40:55the sea

40:58with a brand new lava plane

41:04added to the showering of ash and ponus

41:08along with raining volcanic debris.

41:13The actual elevation of the island may

41:16very well have increased even further.

41:20So yes indeed the face of Krakatau has

41:24gotten a total faceelift after this

41:27latest blast.

41:33Indonesia's largest international

41:36airport Sakarno Hattera in Jakarta

41:40was forced to cancel hundreds of flights

41:43due to dense ash falling and hanging in

41:47the air.

41:58posing serious hazards to aircraft. This

42:01directly impacted business operations

42:04and cost airlines a pretty penny.

42:15It appears that all the compressed gas

42:18and long accumulated pressure have

42:21mostly been released and the cap sealing

42:25the crater is no longer there either.

42:32Even so, the 3 km restricted zone around

42:36Cracker Town remains firmly in effect

42:40and everyone must strictly stay out.

42:57In northern Botswana

43:00lies one of Africa's greatest mystery.

43:04The Sevuti Channel does not follow the

43:06rain.

43:08It follows movements deep beneath the

43:11ground.

43:17For years, the channel ran full,

43:22turning the marsh into a green paradise.

43:39Then the Savity Channel ran dry

43:45[music]

43:50for decades.

43:59Every species that stays here

44:03must live with that unpredictability.

44:07This year the channel is dry again.

44:12And the drought holds.

44:21One water hole remains.

44:24It is the center of all life here

44:33and the center of every death.

44:40Around it stretches a tightly woven web.

44:52>> [music]

44:56>> At the top of that web sit four empires.

45:02The lion pride led by Queen Amara.

45:11It has held this ground for generations.

45:21>> [laughter]

45:22>> The Maro clan, famous as scavengers, but

45:26in truth misunderstood hunters.

45:42The ember pack

45:46surviving on its own by rules of its own

45:51making.

45:57And Kito,

46:01a solitary leopard,

46:05the one who always pays each time the

46:10other three empires collide.

46:15But the most dangerous of all may be the

46:19one that belongs to no grassland.

46:25It was there before the season of thirst

46:29began,

46:34and it will be there long after the

46:36thirst has passed.

46:42The days ahead hold only one question.

46:48When every territorial border closes in,

46:53which species will rule the savannah?

46:58[laughter]

46:59Comment on a species before we continue

47:02the journey of Amara Pride.

47:12Huh.

47:29First drives Amara's pride off its

47:33ancestral ground.

47:38The prey has followed the water.

47:42To live the lion pride must follow the

47:46prey.

48:11For a pride with cubs, this is the most

48:15dangerous gamble of all.

48:24The Nile crocodile,

48:29the oldest predator in this land.

48:36almost unchanged for millions of years.

48:42It picks one spot and holds still

48:48for hours,

48:51only its eyes above the surface.

49:08waiting patiently for a single mistake.

49:17And that mistake arrives.

49:23Its V-shaped jaws are among the

49:26strongest in the animal world.

49:29Nearly 70 teeth built to hold prey and

49:33[music] never let go.

49:51Queen Amara never takes her eyes off her

49:54cub. Not for a second.

49:57And that vigilance alone drags the cub

50:01back from the line between life and

50:04death.

50:12For lions,

50:14fewer than half of all cubs survive

50:17their first year.

50:24Even where no crocodile jaws wait

50:27beneath the water,

50:30this river is the first link in a much

50:33larger web

50:36where hippos hold the deep water.

50:42Crocodiles control the crossings

50:45and every land animal depends on both.

50:52In a single morning,

50:56it reveals several rules running side by

51:00side.

51:11The ambusher stays loyal to one stretch

51:14of water

51:17while the pride claims ownership through

51:20the strength of numbers.

51:24One shrinking river

51:27and already more than two ways to

51:30declare who owns the territory.

51:46Dawn belongs to the grazing herds.

51:54A single mouthful of water here can cost

51:58a life.

52:00No animal drinks without lifting its

52:03head to watch.

52:06Where life gathers thickest,

52:09death stands closest.

52:19But by midday, the whole water hole must

52:22give way.

52:40Elephants are large enough that no

52:43predator dares provoke them.

52:52Yet they only pass through,

52:55leaving the water behind for those who

52:58stay to fight over it.

53:06>> Meanwhile,

53:08jackals live off the mistakes of others.

53:17An entire tiered order turns around one

53:21shrinking pool.

53:25[music]

53:32With every passing day, the water pulls

53:35back a little further

53:41and the web draws tighter.

53:47[music]

53:51Every species registers it and every

53:55species is choosing a side.

53:59At the edge of the water, the emberac

54:02has guarded [music] this ground longer

54:04than any other empire.

54:11They have held it as though time itself

54:14were on their side.

54:18But in a season of first, a long history

54:23saves no one.

54:28Amara's pride is closing in.

54:39The African wild dog is the most

54:42efficient predator in Africa.

54:46Its hunting success rate can reach 80%.

54:56>> Three times the figure for lions.

54:59[music]

55:10But that success is fragile because

55:13after almost every hunt,

55:16[laughter]

55:20part of the prize is stolen by someone

55:23else.

55:32>> [laughter]

55:34>> What truly keeps a wild dog pack alive

55:40is its bond, not a line drawn on the

55:43ground.

55:45The whole pack raises the young,

55:49feeding pups that are not their own.

55:55And because they need a pack large

55:57enough to survive today, across the

56:01entire continent,

56:05fewer than 5,000 African wild dogs

56:09remain,

56:14but this time the pack's encircling

56:18tactic.

56:25runs into a limit it cannot cross. Raw

56:29weight.

56:36A male lion weighs 5 to 10 times as much

56:39as a wild dog.

56:57The wild dog pack holds for a moment,

57:02then breaks.

57:04They are forced off their ancestral

57:07ground, carrying a loss that will never

57:10be replaced.

57:14For a species already on the edge of

57:17extinction,

57:19losing territory is a long step closer

57:23to the end.

57:27And this is how the land works as a web.

57:34Each time one species shifts, the whole

57:38system moves with it. [laughter]

57:42The one that loses ground pushes another

57:46aside

57:49and that one pushes into the territory

57:53of a third.

57:58So what do you think wins

58:01numbers and tactics

58:06or the power of a single individual?

58:13But the throne, the pride, just one will

58:17not hold until morning.

58:23Because in the dark, the third empire is

58:27already moving in.

58:48Night swallows the thirsting kingdom

58:52whole.

59:05Keto lives a solitary life,

59:19hunting alone, eating alone,

59:25then dissolving into the dark. Before

59:31dawn arrives,

59:37the leopard is the best climber among

59:40the big cats.

59:46Strong enough to haul a kill high into a

59:50tree

59:53where no other claws can reach it.

59:58But the price of a solitary life is

1:00:01this.

1:00:06The kill gets stolen

1:00:10by lions and by hyenas alike.

1:00:16And so for the leopard, survival means

1:00:20vanishing before it is ever seen.

1:00:40A new cream has arrived.

1:00:45But this territory has never been easy

1:00:48to rule.

1:00:53Even the prey here is strong enough

1:01:01to turn the hunter into the hunted.

1:01:13[groaning]

1:01:17>> [snorts]

1:01:20>> Carelessness

1:01:22always has a price,

1:01:26[laughter]

1:01:29which is exactly why reputation can

1:01:32mislead.

1:01:39For decades, spotted hyenas carried the

1:01:43name of opportunistic scavengers.

1:01:51But in reality,

1:01:54between 60 and 90% of their food

1:01:58comes from hunts they make themselves.

1:02:05They are hunters in their own right.

1:02:12Even the famous laughter [laughter] is a

1:02:15signal of tension and rank, not of

1:02:19[laughter] joy.

1:02:21Within the clan, power passes down the

1:02:25female line.

1:02:28The offspring of a ranking female

1:02:33can outrank even the oldest adult males.

1:02:39The real strength of hyenas lies in how

1:02:43they organize. [crying]

1:02:47Small groups faming out to patrol a vast

1:02:51range,

1:02:53then converging in moments.

1:02:58Every time the territory is threatened,

1:03:05[laughter]

1:03:07the migrating herds pass through like a

1:03:10current,

1:03:12feeding everything here.

1:03:16but never stopping long enough to own

1:03:19anything.

1:03:22It is the ones that stay,

1:03:25the ones that hold a territory that will

1:03:29fight for it to the end.

1:03:34And at the center of that web is the

1:03:37water hole,

1:03:42the one resource that cannot be moved.

1:03:45And therefore the one worth trading

1:03:48everything for.

1:04:01>> [music]

1:04:07>> with the male lion coalition patrolling

1:04:10the outer ridge

1:04:15and Queen Amara hunting far away.

1:04:20The water hole is left to young lions

1:04:24and a few females.

1:04:29Its strongest line of defense now empty.

1:04:41Now every advantage inverts. When a

1:04:44baboon is cornered with nowhere left to

1:04:47go,

1:04:50it can stand its ground against a

1:04:53lioness. [music]

1:04:57A single male lion, when it has to, can

1:05:01hold off a dozen hyenas.

1:05:11But at this water hole, there is no

1:05:14male.

1:05:21and a lone lioness can do nothing.

1:05:25Hyenas read this moment better than

1:05:27anyone.

1:05:30A hyena clan may number only a few dozen

1:05:34or climb past a 100.

1:05:39What makes them formidable is cold

1:05:42calculation.

1:05:46waiting, counting, and picking the exact

1:05:50moment an opponent is weakest.

1:06:07[laughter]

1:06:20pressure and timing are enough. Within

1:06:23minutes,

1:06:27the most important water hole in the

1:06:29territory changes hands for the second

1:06:33time in a single day.

1:06:37In your opinion, does this battle mean

1:06:42[laughter]

1:06:46hyenas are stronger than lions?

1:06:51Let us know your opinion in the

1:06:53comments.

1:06:58But now

1:07:00the young lions lose for lack of

1:07:02numbers,

1:07:04not lack of [laughter] courage.

1:07:13Dawn returns the land to stillness.

1:07:17[laughter]

1:07:19The Hyena Clan walks the new border,

1:07:24leaving scent on every clump of grass,

1:07:29a quiet message that this territory now

1:07:33belongs to them.

1:07:37>> [music]

1:07:42>> But the river remains a territory no one

1:07:46contests.

1:07:48[music]

1:07:52In the water, the Nile crocodile reaches

1:07:56its full power.

1:08:07with a bite roughly seven [music] times

1:08:09stronger

1:08:17than an adult lion's.

1:08:20Yet those same jaws are delicate enough

1:08:29to carry an egg without breaking it.

1:08:38Power and precision in the same bite.

1:08:47But even against the oldest and most

1:08:49powerful predator here,

1:08:58there are still those willing to stand

1:09:00up to it.

1:09:08On the African savannah, numbers

1:09:13sometimes beat teeth and claws.

1:09:23And the African savannah is revealing

1:09:26what it truly is,

1:09:29[music] a complex web of survival.

1:09:36Every predator is both a hunter and prey

1:09:39[music] to another predator.

1:09:42The African fish eagle

1:09:45with a wingspan over 2 m

1:09:50takes its fish in midair.

1:09:54Jackals trail the hyenas to pick up what

1:09:58is left.

1:10:01But a single defeat still does not shake

1:10:04the standing of the lion.

1:10:11Of all the empires here, they hold the

1:10:14largest territory.

1:10:20And they are the only species whose

1:10:23healthy adults have almost no natural

1:10:27predator.

1:10:33Four empires, four answers [music] to

1:10:36the same question of survival.

1:10:41Lions rule through numbers and power.

1:10:45Hyenas through organization.

1:10:52Wild dogs through loyalty.

1:10:56and a leopard true invisibility. [music]

1:11:03On this African savannah, power always

1:11:07belongs to whoever holds the right

1:11:10resource at the right moment.

1:11:18And a single lapse of attention is

1:11:21enough to redraw the entire map of

1:11:25survival.

1:11:29Which species changed the way you see

1:11:32the wild today?

1:11:37The ambusher beneath the water, the pack

1:11:41that held its ground for generations,

1:11:46or the clan that swept in at night. Tell

1:11:52me right below.

1:11:59[music]

1:12:07Hundreds of ticks

1:12:12in folds of skin that a mouth, leg, or

1:12:16tail can never reach on their own.

1:12:27No solitary defense has ever proved

1:12:31sufficient.

1:12:36But the Cape Buffalo has found a

1:12:39solution underwater.

1:12:45Wherever the ticks are thickest,

1:12:50that is where the fish swarm in the

1:12:53greatest numbers.

1:12:56For the school of fish, this is a

1:12:59nutrientrich feast.

1:13:04Meanwhile, above the surface,

1:13:07the ticks become a familiar food source

1:13:10for yet another species.

1:13:21The slender beak of the reduild oxpecker

1:13:25can probe into the deep crevices of skin

1:13:28that the [laughter] fish could never

1:13:30reach.

1:13:33There is no overlap between the fish and

1:13:36the oxecker on the African savannah.

1:13:44Survival is not always dictated by

1:13:46confrontation.

1:13:48Sometimes it lies in simple partnerships

1:13:57where every species involved reaps its

1:14:00own reward. It is precisely these quiet

1:14:04alliances

1:14:08that play a vital role in keeping the

1:14:12entire ecosystem in balance.

1:14:26The Amazon rainforest spreads across

1:14:29nine [music] countries with Brazil

1:14:31holding about 60% of its total area.

1:14:41This is the largest tropical rainforest

1:14:44on Earth where 390 billion trees of some

1:14:5016,000 species.

1:15:06Stand shouldertosh shoulder beneath a

1:15:09canopy 100 to65

1:15:13ft

1:15:29about 30 to 50 m above the found.

1:15:46Millions of years ago, the rise of the

1:15:49Andes pushed the great rivers eastward,

1:15:52carving out

1:16:03The water system that feeds this vast

1:16:06living cathedral.

1:16:20This forest stores between 90 and 140

1:16:25billion tons of carbon.

1:16:43And throughout its history, it has

1:16:46absorbed about 2 billion tons of CO2 a

1:16:50year.

1:17:01Though that figure is falling as

1:17:03deforestation

1:17:05accelerates.

1:17:25If the Serengeti is an open stage where

1:17:28everything unfolds in plain sight.

1:17:52The Amazon is a closed labyrinth where

1:17:55even the sunlight must struggle to reach

1:17:58the ground.

1:18:30And at the heart of that labyrinth,

1:18:32among the shafts of light piercing the

1:18:35canopy into an ancient cathedral,

1:18:41a shape moves. A pair of amber eyes

1:18:46flares to life for an instant at the

1:18:49forest floor.

1:19:05Then vanishes behind the massive

1:19:07buttress root of a titanic ancient tree.

1:19:26This is the jaguar, the apex predator

1:19:30enthroned, unchallenged [music]

1:19:33at the very top of the Amazon food chain

1:19:36across the centuries.

1:19:45Countless indigenous civilizations of

1:19:48the Americas revered the jaguar as a

1:19:51sacred symbol of power and the spirit

1:19:55world.

1:20:01That magnificent suntanned orange coat

1:20:05is dappled with black rosettes.

1:20:08Each individual carries a unique pattern

1:20:18as if the ancient forest itself had

1:20:21inscribed an identity onto every great

1:20:25cat.

1:20:38The Tupiguarani people named it Yagwa,

1:20:42meaning the one who kills with a single

1:20:45leap.

1:20:48And the name is no exaggeration.

1:20:56A jaguar is about 1.8 m long and weighs

1:21:0170 to 120 kg.

1:21:09Smaller than a lion, yet armed with the

1:21:12strongest bite of any big cat on Earth.

1:21:24where the lion clamps down on the throat

1:21:26to suffocate its prey.

1:21:31The jaguar bites straight through the

1:21:34skull or the neck vertebrae.

1:21:40A single devastating strike, precise and

1:21:44decisive, with no need for a drawn out

1:21:48struggle.

1:21:57But what makes the jaguar the true king

1:22:00of the Amazon is not only its bite. It

1:22:04is the ability to move seamlessly

1:22:07through every layer of space in its

1:22:10world.

1:22:17It plunges into the rivers to hunt

1:22:20cayman in their very own domain. It even

1:22:23hunts turtles, driving its canon eyes

1:22:27through the armored shell.

1:22:36No predator in the Amazon [music] or

1:22:39indeed anywhere on Earth can operate so

1:22:42seamlessly across [music]

1:22:44so many ecological layers.

1:22:52The territory of a solitary jagger spans

1:22:55about 26 to 103 square kilm

1:23:00and it patrols every inch alone.

1:23:09No pack, no allies, not a single warning

1:23:14roar.

1:23:21Only silence [snorts] and a flash of

1:23:24amber eyes in a single heartbeat among

1:23:28the leaves. Then gone.

1:23:37The Amazon River, carrier of the

1:23:40greatest freshwater flow on the planet.

1:23:51>> [music]

1:24:14>> More than 2,200

1:24:17fish species live in these waters.

1:24:25about 15%

1:24:27of all freshwater fish on the planet,

1:24:31creating a density of biodiversity.

1:24:42No other river system on Earth can

1:24:45match. The unhagger, also called the

1:24:49snake bird, is the strangest hunter

1:24:52beneath the surface.

1:25:01And its common name is no accident. When

1:25:04it dives, its feathers are not

1:25:07waterproof at all.

1:25:17Unlike almost every other water bird,

1:25:21which sinks its whole body below the

1:25:23surface, leaving only the long winding

1:25:27neck above the water,

1:25:35looking exactly like a snake gliding

1:25:37through the current.

1:25:40But those water soaked feathers [snorts]

1:25:42are not a flaw.

1:25:53They reduce buoyancy, letting the snake

1:25:56bird dive deeper and maneuver underwater

1:26:00more nimly than any other bird.

1:26:12When it spots prey, it does not give

1:26:16chase. Instead, it drives its

1:26:18dagger-like beak straight through the

1:26:21fish's body.

1:26:33flips the fish into the air and swallows

1:26:37it whole.

1:26:47After every hunt, the snake bird must

1:26:50perch on a branch by the river and

1:26:53spread its wings to dry in the sun.

1:27:02creating an iconic silhouette

1:27:06that anyone who has visited the Amazon

1:27:09recognizes at once. [snorts]

1:27:42Deeper in the river, the piranha, the

1:27:45fish with the worst reputation and the

1:27:48most feared in all the Amazon.

1:27:55Patrols in schools of 20 to 30.

1:28:00Their teeth are sharp as a surgeon's

1:28:02scalpel.

1:28:11interlocking like a sawblade with a bite

1:28:14force reaching 30 times their body

1:28:17weight.

1:28:23A school of piranha can strip clean a

1:28:27large carcass in just a few short

1:28:30minutes.

1:28:43Not because any single fish is

1:28:46especially strong, but because they

1:28:49coordinate their attacks with a

1:28:51precision that is genuinely terrifying.

1:29:12But the truth is far from the myths of

1:29:14the movies.

1:29:16When food is plentiful, the piranha eats

1:29:19mostly plants and carry them.

1:29:23[music]

1:29:33>> [laughter]

1:29:38>> They turn to hunting live prey only when

1:29:41truly driven to desperation.

1:29:44The piranha is not the frenzied killer

1:29:48the movies invented.

1:30:04The piranha is not the frenzy killer the

1:30:08movies invented. It is the river's

1:30:11cleanup crew keeping the ecosystem

1:30:14clean.

1:30:19But above all those underwater hunters

1:30:23stand two creatures even the jaguar

1:30:26treats with caution.

1:30:34The black cayman reaches 4 to 5 m in

1:30:39length and weighs about 300 kg.

1:30:52The black cayman is a supreme ambush

1:30:56predator and the largest member of the

1:30:59crocodilian family in all the Americas.

1:31:09>> [music]

1:31:12>> It lies motionless for hours on the

1:31:15surface,

1:31:21showing only its eyes and nostrils,

1:31:24looking exactly like a rotting log

1:31:27drifting lazily on the current.

1:31:37Prey comes to the water's [music] edge

1:31:39to drink, suspecting nothing. Because

1:31:42that log was there long before they

1:31:45arrived.

1:31:51The black cayman needs no speed. It

1:31:55needs patience.

1:32:01And 85 million years of evolution have

1:32:05honed that patience to absolute

1:32:07perfection.

1:32:12But the black cayman is not the only

1:32:15ruler of the water kingdom.

1:32:21The giant anaconda,

1:32:245 to 6 m long and over 100 kg,

1:32:29kills by constriction.

1:32:37Coil after coil of massive muscle wraps

1:32:41around the victim,

1:32:47tightening a little more with each

1:32:49breath the prey exhales

1:32:55until the heart stops entirely. The

1:32:59anaconda has no reason to hurry.

1:33:08It can hold its prey in that suffocating

1:33:11grip for tens of minutes, patiently

1:33:15waiting as each final breath grows

1:33:18weaker.

1:33:26Until at last only silence remains.

1:33:35Once the prey is dead, the anaconda

1:33:38swallows it whole,

1:33:44opening its jaw joints to an almost

1:33:47unimaginable degree, engulfing victims

1:33:51many times wider than its own head.

1:34:03If the black cayman is a sword, swift,

1:34:08precise, lethal.

1:34:14Then the anaconda is a moose,

1:34:19slow, patient, and utterly impossible to

1:34:24escape.

1:34:41the African savannah.

1:34:46Deep in the dry season,

1:34:49the grass has turned yellow.

1:34:52Water survives in only a few scattered

1:34:55pools.

1:34:58Here,

1:35:01water redraws the entire map of power.

1:35:06This year, [screaming]

1:35:08the dry season came early.

1:35:12Pools that normally hold water all year

1:35:16ran dry weeks ago.

1:35:23The distance between grazing ground and

1:35:26water

1:35:27grows wider every day.

1:35:31Every trip to drink

1:35:34means hours crossing open ground

1:35:38with nowhere to hide

1:35:42for prey. That is the most dangerous

1:35:44stretch of the day.

1:35:48A typical lion pride

1:35:52is led by the most experienced lioness

1:35:57with a few adult males

1:36:00and a group of females raising cubs

1:36:03together.

1:36:05This species hunts by role,

1:36:08not by individual.

1:36:12On a still night,

1:36:15a male lion's roar can carry 8

1:36:18kilometers.

1:36:20It marks the edge of the territory

1:36:24and warns off intruders.

1:36:28But by day,

1:36:31on the hunt,

1:36:34every signal passes through the eyes.

1:36:38A medsized lion pride needs five to

1:36:42seven large kills a month to feed

1:36:46everyone,

1:36:48including cubs too young to hunt.

1:36:53A shortfall of only a few weeks

1:36:57is enough to push the whole pride,

1:37:01the cubs above all,

1:37:05toward collapse.

1:37:07They have to take every chance

1:37:12that opens in front of them.

1:37:25>> [screaming and groaning]

1:37:34>> Today the target has been chosen.

1:37:39A lion needs to close within about 30 m

1:37:45before it can commit to the final

1:37:48charge.

1:37:51Beyond that range,

1:37:54a zebra's speed

1:37:57up to 65 kilometers per hour

1:38:02leaves any lion behind.

1:38:05[music]

1:38:07Zebras do not live alone.

1:38:12More eyes, earlier warning.

1:38:17[screaming]

1:38:17This zebra herd has come to break along

1:38:21first. [laughter]

1:38:25They cannot wait any longer.

1:38:28Even knowing the hunters will be there.

1:38:34A zebra is not passive prey.

1:38:38[music]

1:38:40One kick from those legs is enough to

1:38:44badly injure a fully grown lion.

1:39:11For the pride,

1:39:14timing decides [screaming] everything.

1:39:19[groaning]

1:39:22[screaming] But hunger

1:39:25has clouded the lioness's judgment.

1:39:46Heart rates spike.

1:40:06A lion's flatout sprint.

1:40:11lasts only a few hundred m.

1:40:17Their bodies build heat fast.

1:40:22Past the limit, they have to stop.

1:40:27No matter how close the prey still is.

1:40:34That is why most big cat hunts are

1:40:37settled in the first few seconds,

1:40:42not by a long chase.

1:40:57Numbers do not mean victory.

1:41:03It sounds cruel,

1:41:06but the presence of a lion pride

1:41:09keeps the zebra population healthier

1:41:13over time.

1:41:20The ones taken

1:41:23are usually the old,

1:41:27the sick, or the weakest of the young.

1:41:32Natural selection runs through them,

1:41:36leaving a population that is faster,

1:41:39stronger, and far more alert.

1:41:48A failed hunt today

1:41:52means a longer, hungry night

1:41:56for the youngest members of all.

1:42:00Cubs depend completely on the pride

1:42:05for roughly their first two years.

1:42:10They cannot hunt for themselves and

1:42:13cannot defend themselves

1:42:17against hyenas

1:42:20or strange males.

1:42:24Their fat reserves are running down.

1:42:32For the cubs,

1:42:34that limit arrives far sooner

1:42:39than it does for the adults.

1:42:42No meal tonight.

1:42:48But no lion badly hurt either.

1:42:54Every zebra carries a stripe pattern.

1:42:59No other zebra shares like a

1:43:02fingerprint.

1:43:05A fool learns to recognize its mother

1:43:10by that pattern within its first hours

1:43:13of life.

1:43:25The high contrast stripes

1:43:29seem to confuse biting flies

1:43:34as they come into land,

1:43:39cutting the number of bites sharply

1:43:42compared with plaincoated animals.

1:43:48Natural armor refined across millions of

1:43:52years.

1:43:55A natural identity system

1:44:00running through hundreds of animals that

1:44:03look like one.

1:44:10Zebras are not only good at defending

1:44:12themselves.

1:44:16They shape the savannah itself.

1:44:21They eat the tall coarse grass

1:44:26[music]

1:44:27that comes up first after the rains.

1:44:37Once they move through, the softer

1:44:40growth underneath is exposed.

1:44:44the main food for the wilderbeast and

1:44:47dazelle that follow.

1:44:51They do more than share the grass

1:44:54layers.

1:44:57Zebra and wilderbeast often travel

1:45:00together through the dry season.

1:45:03Zebras have strong spatial [music]

1:45:06memory

1:45:09and usually lead the way to new grazing.

1:45:15Wilderbeast have sharper hearing and

1:45:18smell.

1:45:25They catch rain from far off and pick up

1:45:29hidden predators sooner.

1:45:39Each species covers what the other

1:45:42lacks.

1:45:44An alliance that needs no agreement.

1:45:53But that alliance only works inside the

1:45:56herd.

1:45:59One animal separated even by a few

1:46:03hundred meters.

1:46:06loses every part of it at once.

1:46:12Round one ends with a kick.

1:46:17Not a kill,

1:46:20but the next prey does more than kick.

1:46:25It stands its ground and fights.

1:46:42Deeper into the territory, the air

1:46:45changes.

1:46:50This is Cape Buffalo country,

1:46:57where even the most confident predators

1:47:00think twice before making a move.

1:47:05Cape buffalo

1:47:09live in large herds,

1:47:13sometimes several hundred strong

1:47:17led by the oldest females.

1:47:24Older bulls

1:47:28no longer strong enough to compete for

1:47:30the top position.

1:47:34tend to split off and live alone or in

1:47:37small groups.

1:47:41Locals call them the dagger boys.

1:47:46Alone, but far from weak.

1:47:50A single dagger boy can still drive off

1:47:54a group of lions

1:47:57if they corner him.

1:48:00The Cape Buffalo

1:48:03is one of the five most dangerous

1:48:06animals

1:48:10to face on foot in Africa

1:48:16alongside the lion, the elephant, the

1:48:20rhino, and the leopard.

1:48:25The pride, Africa's top predator.

1:48:30has to gamble

1:48:33against one of the toughest opponents

1:48:37it will ever meet

1:48:40on any list of Africa's most dangerous

1:48:43animals.

1:48:46The Cape Buffalo is always there.

1:48:52The reason is what they do when

1:48:55cornered.

1:48:59They counterattack without hesitation

1:49:05with enough force to roll a four-wheel

1:49:07drive

1:49:11where a zebra reacts alone.

1:49:16Cape buffalo defend each other as one

1:49:20body

1:49:22and will even hunt down a pride after an

1:49:26attack.

1:49:33A fullgrown Cape buffalo

1:49:37weighs close to a ton.

1:49:40Its hide is thick enough to be almost

1:49:43impossible to pierce.

1:50:05The hunt looks like it is slipping away.

1:50:21Behind them,

1:50:24the dominant male

1:50:26waiting only for the moment.

1:50:34A complete win.

1:50:40High above,

1:50:43dark specks [laughter] begin to circle.

1:50:47Vultures.

1:50:49They take no part in the hunt,

1:50:54but they know exactly when one has

1:50:57ended.

1:50:59What is left of the carcass will feed

1:51:03hyenas, vultures,

1:51:07and dozens of smaller species.

1:51:13On the savannah,

1:51:15a successful hunt

1:51:19never feeds only one animal.

1:51:27One Cape Buffalo can feed everyone for

1:51:31days,

1:51:35long enough to rest before they have to

1:51:38hunt again.

1:51:41For the first day after a big kill,

1:51:45the pride rarely strays far from it.

1:51:50They guard what is left, driving off

1:51:53anything.

1:51:55Hyenas or even other prides that comes

1:51:59too close too early.

1:52:04Only once they have eaten their fill

1:52:06does that line begin to loosen.

1:52:12Round two

1:52:14was not won by the fastest charge.

1:52:19It was one by a plan

1:52:23with two rolls.

1:52:26One side closing in,

1:52:30the other waiting for the opening.

1:52:34The exact division of labor a pride

1:52:37always relies on

1:52:40to bring down the largest prey.

1:52:44Which prey do you think

1:52:47is the most dangerous?

1:52:51Drop your answer below before the next

1:52:54survival fight.

1:53:01Not the zebra.

1:53:04Not the Cape Buffalo.

1:53:08The first two hunts taught the pride one

1:53:11thing.

1:53:13The bigger the prey, the higher the

1:53:16price of a mistake.

1:53:20But that same pressure has made the prey

1:53:23sharper,

1:53:28pushing the pride toward a target few

1:53:31predators would even consider.

1:53:36The most dangerous prey this pride has

1:53:39ever faced.

1:53:43stands almost 6 m tall

1:53:50on legs close to 2 m long.

1:53:57In popular culture,

1:54:00[music]

1:54:01the giraffe is treated as a gentle

1:54:03fitter,

1:54:05[music]

1:54:06almost harmless.

1:54:10To a lion pride,

1:54:13that picture has never been complete.

1:54:20An animal 6 m tall,

1:54:24close to two tons,

1:54:30with a kick that can drop a predator.

1:54:36Gentle is only half the truth.

1:54:43A giraffe's eyes pick out movement that

1:54:46[music] does not belong.

1:54:50from a very long way off.

1:54:55That is why zebra, wilderbeast, even

1:54:58ostrich

1:55:03choose to graze close to a giraffe

1:55:07standing watch.

1:55:12Those eyes and that neck are the best

1:55:15warning system in the region.

1:55:21A free safety net that needs no

1:55:24friendship,

1:55:28only a shared instinct to survive.

1:55:36Giraffes do not live in fixed herds the

1:55:39way buffalo do.

1:55:42They gather in loose groups called

1:55:45towers.

1:55:48forming and breaking up through the day,

1:55:54depending on food and on what each

1:55:57animal needs.

1:56:00A pair drifting off to feed alone is

1:56:03ordinary.

1:56:07Nothing unusual at all.

1:56:12But it is a rare opening for awaiting

1:56:16pride.

1:56:22Each hind leg ends in a sharp hoof,

1:56:28about 30 cm across.

1:56:33Driven from that height,

1:56:37one kick can finish a grown lion.

1:56:42Giraffes fight in a style called

1:56:45necking,

1:56:49using the whole neck and head as a

1:56:52weapon.

1:56:55Swinging blows heavy enough to put a

1:56:58rival down.

1:57:02The power behind those swings

1:57:08is not something to underestimate.

1:57:13A mature bold giraffe can weigh close to

1:57:17two tons.

1:57:22Against an animal like that,

1:57:26a lone lion has almost no chance.

1:57:34But in the hardest stretch of the dry

1:57:36season,

1:57:40with zebra and buffalo growing more

1:57:43alert by the day,

1:57:48a hungry pride has to weigh the biggest

1:57:52risk on its list of prey.

1:57:58A giraffe's first answer to danger

1:58:04is not to fight.

1:58:08With that stride,

1:58:11they can run at close to 50 kilometers

1:58:14per hour,

1:58:17fast enough to leave most land predators

1:58:21behind.

1:58:23The kick only comes out when there is

1:58:27nowhere left to run.

1:58:31Most of the time, giraffes are peaceful

1:58:34animals

1:58:36that avoid conflict.

1:58:39But with no way out,

1:58:42their defensive reflex becomes the most

1:58:45feared weapon

1:58:47on the survivor.

1:58:53>> [music]

1:59:01>> Heat. Heat.

1:59:20>> [music]

1:59:28>> The most dangerous prey of all three

1:59:32rounds.

1:59:34The only one that can drop a lion with a

1:59:37single kick finally goes down.

1:59:45The deadliest weapon on the planes

1:59:50still loses to a group that works

1:59:53together at the right moment.

1:59:57Lionesses opening the way with patience.

2:00:02a male closing it with force.

2:00:11Overhead, the first vultures have

2:00:14started to drop lower.

2:00:17Under the trees nearby, [laughter]

2:00:21the hyenas from the previous round have

2:00:23moved in closer.

2:00:29Still keeping their distance,

2:00:33still waiting for what is left.

2:00:38On the savannah, nothing is wasted.

2:00:43Every hunt feeds more than one species.

2:00:51More than half of all giraffe calves do

2:00:54not survive their first year.

2:00:59Most of them taken by prides exactly

2:01:02like this one.

2:01:05For the giraffe population, this is not

2:01:09an unusual loss.

2:01:12It is part of the balance between

2:01:14predator and prey.

2:01:19A successful giraffe hunt like this one

2:01:24rarely happens more than once in many

2:01:27months.

2:01:33For a pride living through the hardest

2:01:36season of the year,

2:01:40this is more than a meal.

2:01:44It is the margin that lets the whole

2:01:47pride

2:01:50from the lead female down to the

2:01:52smallest cub

2:01:55hold on for one more season.

2:02:05Three rounds.

2:02:09Three prey species. Three kicks. From

2:02:15the easiest prey to the deadliest

2:02:21round got harder,

2:02:25and the way the pride answered grew with

2:02:28it,

2:02:32three different answers,

2:02:36one shared lesson,

2:02:41Three rounds, one evening.

2:02:46All three played out on the same ground,

2:02:51sharing the same water,

2:02:55the same hard, dry season.

2:03:02Survival on the savannah is not decided

2:03:06by who is strongest.

2:03:11It is decided by who fights back the

2:03:14right way

2:03:18and by a pride that works together

2:03:23at the right moment to take the one

2:03:27opening it gets.

2:03:31The zebra kicked and got away.

2:03:36The buffalo kicked and still lost, but

2:03:40made the price far higher.

2:03:47The giraffe kicked and almost won.

2:03:53In all three rounds,

2:03:58not one victory came from the strength

2:04:01of a single animal.

2:04:04Every time it was the coordination of

2:04:08the whole pride,

2:04:12one closing in, one holding back, one

2:04:16finishing it

2:04:20that decided who lived and who had to

2:04:24keep running tomorrow.

2:04:30There is a saying we all know, a chain

2:04:33is only as strong as its weakest link.

2:04:39For a lion pride, the reverse is true as

2:04:43well.

2:04:46The pride is only strong when every

2:04:50member

2:04:52knows exactly what their role is

2:04:56and trusts the others to hold theirs.

2:05:02Not far from where the last fight ended,

2:05:08the Impala that watched the first round

2:05:11are still grazing as if nothing happened

2:05:14at all.

2:05:18The hyenas and vultures from the later

2:05:20rounds have moved on too.

2:05:24Full on what the hunts left behind.

2:05:30On the savannah, no moment belongs to

2:05:33one species alone.

2:05:39Everything gets shared one way or

2:05:42another.

2:05:48Elephants lead the way to water.

2:05:54Wilderbeast borrow the giraffe's eyes.

2:05:59Oxeckers and cattle egrets stand guard

2:06:03on the buffalo.

2:06:06Vultures and hyenas clear away what is

2:06:10left.

2:06:13The dry season will pass. When the first

2:06:17rains return, new grass will come up.

2:06:24The pools will fill again. And the

2:06:27distance between species on the savannah

2:06:32will widen as it does every year.

2:06:41But what this pride learned in this dry

2:06:43season

2:06:47about zebra, about buffalo, about

2:06:51giraffe will not wash away with the

2:06:54rain.

2:06:57They will pass it to the next generation

2:06:59of cubs

2:07:02through every hunt, through every dry

2:07:05season that follows.

2:07:09Looking back, the deadliest battle was

2:07:12never about the size of the prey

2:07:17or the teeth and claws of the hunter.

2:07:22It was the moment one side had to fight

2:07:24back

2:07:28and the other had to adapt on the spot

2:07:31or lose everything.

2:07:35That is the pattern that has repeated

2:07:37across millions of years on this

2:07:39savannah

2:07:42and it will keep repeating one dry

2:07:45season after another.

2:07:50Which kick in these three rounds

2:07:56do you think is the most dangerous to a

2:07:59lion? the zebra, the Cape Buffalo, or

2:08:03the giraffe?

2:08:07Leave your answer in the comments before

2:08:10we move on to New Wild Horizons.

2:08:21You are looking at a flag in West Africa

2:08:24with 11 red and white stripes and a blue

2:08:28square in the corner. But instead of 50

2:08:31stars, there is only one solitary star.

2:08:36This is not the United States. Yet this

2:08:40flag was stitched together

2:08:44by seven women who had just crossed the

2:08:47Atlantic Ocean to return to a continent

2:08:50they had never once set foot on. The

2:08:54capital of this country is named after

2:08:57James Monroe, the fifth president of the

2:09:01United States,

2:09:03a man who never granted them complete

2:09:06freedom. Their independence day is July

2:09:1026th,

2:09:12exactly 22 days later than America's 4th

2:09:16of July. And they declared their freedom

2:09:20in 1847,

2:09:23tough a century before the United States

2:09:26abolished slavery.

2:09:28This is Liberia, Africa's first

2:09:32republic. It is home to the rarest pygmy

2:09:36hippos on earth, boasts leftbreaking

2:09:40waves that National Geographic called

2:09:43Africa's surfing capital

2:09:47and is also home to the first woman

2:09:50elected to lead a nation on this

2:09:53continent.

2:09:54Listen to the call of franklins from the

2:09:57dense canopy. Smell the smoke rising

2:10:02from a charcoal stove hard at work

2:10:05distilling palm oil.

2:10:08Feel the morning mist rolling through a

2:10:12cathedral of giant trees [music]

2:10:15standing up to 200 ft tall, older than

2:10:19the United States itself.

2:10:22This is Liberia at dawn.

2:10:28The entire country spans about 43,000

2:10:32square miles,

2:10:34roughly the size of the state of

2:10:36Tennessee. It nestles along the Atlantic

2:10:39coast of West Africa, sandwiched between

2:10:42Sierra Leon, Guinea, and Ivory Coast.

2:10:46The coastline stretches 350 mi, slightly

2:10:51longer than the entire California coast.

2:10:54The jar is to nest.

2:10:57Left to nest.

2:11:01Wow.

2:11:03Surrounded by mangrove lagoons and

2:11:06sandbarss pushed up by six major rivers.

2:11:12Mount WV, the highest peak here, reaches

2:11:154,724

2:11:18ft, taller than most of the Appalachian

2:11:21mountains. And half of this country,

2:11:25yes, fully half of its land area

2:11:29remains completely covered by primary

2:11:33rainforest.

2:11:35This is the upper Ginian forest, one of

2:11:39only 25 precious biodiversity hotspots

2:11:45remaining on the entire planet. Liberia

2:11:49sits 300 mi north of the equator.

2:11:53Temperatures year round gently hover

2:11:56between 75 and 82° F. It is warmer than

2:12:02Miami and far more humid than New

2:12:05Orleans.

2:12:07Up to 200 in of rainfall pour over the

2:12:10capital of Monrovia each [music] year.

2:12:14four times the precipitation that the

2:12:17city of Seattle receives.

2:12:20Children grow up here without ever

2:12:23seeing snow except on television. There

2:12:26are two seasons here. A dry season

2:12:30running from November to April, a rainy

2:12:32season from May to October,

2:12:36and a curious little pause in between

2:12:39when the rains [music] politely take a

2:12:41back seat. Yet, the wildest weather here

2:12:44does not originate from the sky. It

2:12:47arrives from a desert 2,000 mi away.

2:12:51Every year, from November to February,

2:12:55the Hamatan winds sweep down from the

2:12:58Sahara Desert, carrying a fine red dust

2:13:01across West Africa.

2:13:03The sun turns a deep crimson glow like a

2:13:07nightlight. On highland nights,

2:13:10temperatures can dip down to 60°

2:13:13Fahrenheit.

2:13:15And on the shores of Robertsport,

2:13:18on certain summer nights, Clankton

2:13:22illuminate the waves with a stunning

2:13:25brilliant blue glow.

2:13:52Yet to truly understand this land, you

2:13:56must meet the 5 and a half million

2:13:59people who built it.

2:14:03The first thing you hear the moment you

2:14:06step off the plane will be the greeting

2:14:09powder body. This land is home to 16

2:14:14native ethnic groups. The Capill are the

2:14:18largest group making up about 20% of the

2:14:21population

2:14:23living mainly in the western highlands.

2:14:26The Basa live along the central coast.

2:14:30The Greo inhabit the southeast while the

2:14:34Geo and Mano reside further north. And

2:14:38then there is a population group

2:14:41accounting for a mere 5%

2:14:44yet changing everything. The Americians.

2:14:50They are descendants of roughly 15,000

2:14:53free Africanameans

2:14:55who crossed the Atlantic to return here

2:14:59starting in 1822.

2:15:02Despite representing just 5% of the

2:15:05population for 133 years, they were the

2:15:10ones who called the shots for the entire

2:15:13nation. That brings us right to

2:15:16Colloqua, a truly unique local English

2:15:20creole.

2:15:22English is the official language of

2:15:24Liberia thanks to those American

2:15:27settlers. But over more than two

2:15:30centuries, the English here has evolved

2:15:33into something entirely its own. How the

2:15:38body means how are you doing? And you

2:15:42reply with

2:15:44the body fine meaning I am doing well. U

2:15:50o a means that is right while small

2:15:56small means take your time. Truth be

2:16:00told

2:16:02is not difficult at all. As long as you

2:16:06know how to say how the body, you will

2:16:09do just fine here. When it comes to the

2:16:13people of Monrovia, their character is

2:16:16warm, open, and remarkably resilient.

2:16:21This nation has endured two internal

2:16:25conflicts,

2:16:27overcome the Ebola health crisis of

2:16:302014,

2:16:32yet still welcomes strangers

2:16:37with the brightest smile you will ever

2:16:39see. There is a wonderful basa proverb

2:16:44katuin sheshwum alone meaning we can

2:16:49only go far when we walk together. And

2:16:53that is Liberia wrapped up in a single

2:16:57sentence.

2:17:07Behind the modern tapestry lie threads

2:17:11of far older tradition with the Puro

2:17:14society for men and the Sunday society

2:17:18for women. These are centuries old

2:17:21secret societies where rights of passage

2:17:24are performed for young men and women.

2:17:28Young people venture deep into the

2:17:30forest for 1 to 3 years to learn custom

2:17:35ceremony survival skills and reverence.

2:17:40The masks carved by these societies,

2:17:43especially the Dan masks, eventually

2:17:46found their way to the Louvre and the

2:17:49Museum of Modern Art in New York. That

2:17:53is how global modernism was quietly

2:17:57influenced by a small Liberian village.

2:18:02Yet that flag with its lone star carries

2:18:06a story unlike any other. A tale of the

2:18:10most paradoxical flag on earth.

2:18:1511 red and white stripes and a single

2:18:18white star on a blue field was stitched

2:18:22in July of 1847

2:18:25by seven women led by Susanna Elizabeth

2:18:29Lewis. The horizontal stripes represent

2:18:33the 11 men who signed the Liberian

2:18:36Declaration of Independence.

2:18:39And that solitary star is Liberia

2:18:42itself, the first star of freedom to

2:18:46shine in the African sky. Right at the

2:18:50port of Monrovia on the Meserado River,

2:18:53lies Providence Island, spanning a mere

2:18:571.6 acres. [music]

2:18:59That is were 88 free African-Ameans

2:19:04disembarked from a ship on January 31st,

2:19:071822.

2:19:09After 44 days at sea from New York

2:19:12Harbor, 25 years later, they declared

2:19:16independence

2:19:18half a century before America abolished

2:19:21slavery.

2:19:23The United States refused to recognize

2:19:26Liberia until 1862

2:19:30because pro-slavery factions back then

2:19:34would never accept a free black nation.

2:19:38Meanwhile, the capital city of Monrovia

2:19:41was named for James Monroe, the fifth

2:19:44president of the United States, who was

2:19:47also a founding member of the society

2:19:51that funded that entire voyage. The

2:19:55beauty of Liberia is that you can live

2:19:58two completely different lives just a

2:20:013-hour drive apart. Start in Monrovia

2:20:05with its 1 and a half million residents

2:20:08wear rooftop bars in the [music] Sincor

2:20:11neighborhood.

2:20:13Catch the last golden light of dusk

2:20:16while sipping craft coffee alongside

2:20:19young members of the diaspora generation

2:20:23who returned from Providence to launch

2:20:26new ventures. Just down the hill is the

2:20:29wateride market, buzzing with the sounds

2:20:32of koka echoing through smoke from

2:20:36grilled plantains and dried fish. Over

2:20:40on Camp Johnson Road, Taylor shops,

2:20:43barber shops, and modest local eeries

2:20:47line the street where lunch costs a mere

2:20:50$2.

2:20:53At top the hill stands the Dukor Hotel.

2:20:57A five-star tower from the 1960s, left

2:21:01silent after past struggles, standing

2:21:04like a fractured crown, ejuding urban

2:21:07decay, yet offering the finest paranomic

2:21:11view in all of Monrovia.

2:21:15Now drive 3 hours west to Bowie County,

2:21:20where paved roads transition into dirt

2:21:23and then into rich red clay.

2:21:27Suddenly you feel as though you have

2:21:29stepped into another century. Round

2:21:32fetched huts with packed mud walls.

2:21:36Charcoal stove smoldering outside every

2:21:41home and women dressed in vibrant lap

2:21:45cloth pounding cassava leaves in wooden

2:21:49mortars. The aroma of palm butter soup

2:21:53drifts through the morning haze

2:21:56alongside fields of upland rice.

2:22:01An ancient African grain strain with a

2:22:053,500year

2:22:08history. On weekends, men climb palm

2:22:12trees at dawn to gather sap. And by

2:22:16evening, the whole village sits beneath

2:22:19the mango trees, sipping palm wine and

2:22:23shooting the breeze.

2:22:42This is Kinu,

2:22:45a small island set in the frigid Baltic

2:22:48Sea. A place where blizzards can blanket

2:22:52the entire island in white while

2:22:55remaining so barren it cannot yield

2:22:58enough food to sustain a mere 300 souls.

2:23:04Unable to rely on the barren earth

2:23:07beneath their feet, Kihoo's able-bodied

2:23:11men were forced to head out to sea to

2:23:14survive.

2:23:16They departed, leaving behind an island

2:23:19home only to women, children, and

2:23:23elders.

2:23:25Kiu women had to act as mothers while

2:23:28holding down the fort and shouldering

2:23:32all their husbands duties. Throughout

2:23:35those long months of separation,

2:23:39that extraordinary resilience gave birth

2:23:43to Europe's last matriarchal society,

2:23:48recognized by UNESCO as a world heritage

2:23:52site.

2:23:54Media outlets around the world still

2:23:57call this place the island of women.

2:24:02Even so, the people of Kihu have

2:24:05repeatedly rejected that description.

2:24:09So, what is the truth? What is life

2:24:13really like here?

2:24:16The answer just might surprise you.

2:24:21Kihu rests quietly in the Gulf of Ria

2:24:25off the western coast of Estonia.

2:24:29From the nearest point on the mainland,

2:24:32the sea distance is just over 10

2:24:35kilometers.

2:24:36While from the city of Peru, the

2:24:39distance is around 41 km.

2:24:44Yet the instant the ferry pulls away

2:24:46from port, the rhythm of the modern

2:24:49world begins to fade. For ahead lies an

2:24:53island spanning just over 16 square

2:24:57kilometers that has stood apart from the

2:25:00hustle and bustle of the world for

2:25:03hundreds of years.

2:25:05Surrounding Kenu are Mijia Island and

2:25:09more than 50 uninhabited eyelets. Seen

2:25:13from above, the entire archipelago

2:25:16resembles pebbles gently scattered by

2:25:19nature's hand across the deep blue sea.

2:25:28He knew boasts over 36 km of coastline

2:25:33embracing sandy beaches, pine forests,

2:25:37and small villages.

2:25:40The waters around Kinu are fairly

2:25:43shallow with countless hidden reefs

2:25:46beneath the surface, forcing sailors to

2:25:49approach the island with great care

2:25:53since ancient times.

2:25:55Scattered across the island are giant

2:25:58boulders like remnants left [music]

2:26:01behind from the ice age. The people of

2:26:05Kenu once cried these stones [music]

2:26:08to construct breakwaters for the city of

2:26:11Peru, pave streets in Tolen, and even

2:26:15ship them all the way to Ria. The

2:26:19terrain here is surprisingly simple, as

2:26:22the entire island resembles a thin

2:26:25ribbon of silk draped across the sea,

2:26:29with its highest point reaching under 9

2:26:32m above sea level.

2:26:36So low that on foggy mornings, the

2:26:39boundary between land, sea, [music] and

2:26:42sky seems to merge as one.

2:26:46Life on the island centers around four

2:26:50small villages.

2:26:52Limy serves as the island's gateway to

2:26:56the sea, home to its busiest port.

2:27:00Lakula acts as the heart of the

2:27:03community with its school, medical

2:27:06center, church, and museum.

2:27:10In Sere to the north, a post office,

2:27:14shops, and community spaces fulfill

2:27:18daily necessities.

2:27:20Further south lies roots a cooler where

2:27:24a lighthouse quietly guards the Baltic

2:27:26Sea day and night. At first glance,

2:27:30Kitmu's peaceful beauty can easily

2:27:34mislead firsttime visitors. But on an

2:27:37island without tall mountains or terrain

2:27:41large enough to offer shelter, people

2:27:44must endure nearly the full force of

2:27:47every storm rolling in from the Baltic

2:27:49Sea. Winter is when nature reveals its

2:27:53harshest face.

2:27:55Snow buries the fields. Chilly winds

2:28:00howl past rooftops.

2:28:03and the waters surrounding the island

2:28:06can freeze over into a vast white sheet

2:28:10stretching to the horizon.

2:28:12When fairies are forced to grind to a

2:28:15halt, residents can only rely on flights

2:28:19or wait until the ice becomes safe

2:28:21enough to drive directly across the

2:28:25frozen sea. Yet, even when the ice

2:28:28melts, life on the island gets no

2:28:32easier. Poor soil and limited resources

2:28:36once made self-sufficiency impossible

2:28:39for Kenu.

2:28:41At times,

2:28:43half of all food and hay had to be

2:28:46brought in from outside to sustain both

2:28:50human and animal life.

2:28:53It was that very scarcity that drove the

2:28:56men out to sea, where they spent days

2:28:59searching for a livelihood.

2:29:02Even the homes

2:29:04bear the mark of this struggle against

2:29:08nature. For instead of being built near

2:29:11the shore with windows facing the ocean,

2:29:15houses were constructed deeper inland,

2:29:19sheltered behind belts of pine trees.

2:29:23For the people of Kinu,

2:29:26the sea was both a lifeline, nourishing

2:29:30the entire community and an everpresent

2:29:34challenge that they had to learn to live

2:29:38alongside.

2:29:40Yet, this harsh land possesses a

2:29:43captivating beauty that is hard to look

2:29:47away from.

2:29:49As winter passes, fields gradually

2:29:52become carpeted in green grass and wild

2:29:56flowers.

2:29:58Pine forests stretched toward the

2:30:01coastline and glinced through that sea

2:30:04of green are wooden houses painted

2:30:08vibrant red and yellow like lively brush

2:30:12strokes.

2:30:14Across a rustic canvas, following the

2:30:17narrow path south, a white lighthouse

2:30:21standing 29 m tall rises proudly at

2:30:26Pitkana Point. Few know that it was cast

2:30:30in iron in England in 1864,

2:30:35then dismantled piece by piece, shipped

2:30:39by sea,

2:30:41and assembled directly on the island.

2:30:45Throughout the 19th century, this was

2:30:48the island's sole means of navigation

2:30:52and connection to the mainland before

2:30:55underwater telephone cables were

2:30:57installed.

2:30:59Today, after over a century exposed to

2:31:03Baltic tempests, the lighthouse retains

2:31:07its original form, becoming a symbol of

2:31:11iron resolve for the women on this

2:31:15windswept island

2:31:19that have learned to adapt to this harsh

2:31:22land.

2:31:24[music] Right on the barren windswept

2:31:27dunes where the salty air of the Baltic

2:31:31Sea can drain the vitality of almost any

2:31:36plant species.

2:31:38The rare sea holly still manages [music]

2:31:42to survive. Their roots dig deep into

2:31:47gravel and stone quietly blooming like

2:31:52proud treasures

2:31:55listed in the red data book.

2:31:59Further inland, barren pastures are home

2:32:03to the native Kihanu sheep, living

2:32:07witnesses to history

2:32:11that have weathered the storm through

2:32:14over three millennia of cold.

2:32:18In return for that resilience, their

2:32:20thick fleece provides warmth and raw

2:32:24material for Kihanu women to weave

2:32:29traditional red striped skirts by the

2:32:32hearth in winter.

2:32:35Life carries on as herds of shaggy

2:32:39Scottish Highland cattle appear along

2:32:42the beaches. They move slowly in the

2:32:45cold, but that very ruggedness turns

2:32:48them into diligent gardeners, clearing

2:32:52reed beds [music]

2:32:53to make way.

2:32:55For thousands of migratory birds,

2:32:58returning to nest each spring, [music]

2:33:02and along the delicate boundary between

2:33:05land and ocean, gray seals appear like

2:33:09sacred witnesses to the island's

2:33:11history. Since the 19th century, they

2:33:15were a vital lifeline,

2:33:17part of a grueling livelihood that

2:33:20forced key new men to brave the ice

2:33:24across the frozen sea surface. They

2:33:28spent months drifting among cracked ice

2:33:31flows to hunt seals and bring precious

2:33:34resources home to their families.

2:33:49>> [music]

2:33:50>> It functions as a natural refrigerator,

2:33:52keeping food fresh for months on end. A

2:33:56tiny animal, yet one that [music]

2:33:58carries the cleverness and grit of a

2:34:00much larger survivor across the frozen

2:34:03polar wastess.

2:34:09While the Arctic [music] turn tries to

2:34:11dodge the fox's claws on the ground,

2:34:14another menace appears from above.

2:34:21The Arctic ska nicknamed the pirate of

2:34:24the Arctic sky.

2:34:27Rather than diving for their own fish,

2:34:36they rely on flight speeds [music] of up

2:34:38to 50 km hour to ambush Arctic turns in

2:34:43midair.

2:34:49Under the pressure of aerial collisions,

2:34:52the Arctic turn is forced to drop its

2:34:54fresh catch simply to regain balance.

2:34:57They obtain as much as 95% of their

2:35:00protein during breeding season [music]

2:35:02through these acts of airborne piracy.

2:35:07This is a textbook example of ecological

2:35:10niche differentiation in which a species

2:35:12chooses to invest effort in pursuit

2:35:15rather than inactive hunting. The Arctic

2:35:19Skuwa embodies nature's unsparing

2:35:21adaptability.

2:35:23Here, strength and cunning can sometimes

2:35:26yield a greater payoff than diligence

2:35:29alone.

2:35:31[laughter]

2:36:06>> [music]

2:36:12>> caught up in tracing [music] Africa's

2:36:14coastline on its way back to the poles.

2:36:17The Arctic turn unwittingly overlooked a

2:36:20grand survival drama inland, a land of

2:36:23vivid and merciless contrasts, where the

2:36:27equatorial [music] sun gives life yet

2:36:29scorches every drop of water.

2:36:38At the heart of these dry basins,

2:36:40[music]

2:36:40salt pans stretch across thousands of

2:36:43square miles like mirrors reflecting

2:36:45sheer severity.

2:36:52Seline lakes such as Natron can register

2:36:55a pH of 10.5, [music]

2:36:58a costic setting that is deeply hostile

2:37:01to most living things.

2:37:04[music]

2:37:23Ground temperatures in the dry season

2:37:25routinely exceed 50° C, turning the air

2:37:29into shimmering heat. Even so, the

2:37:33African savannah remains the stage

2:37:35[music] for one of the planet's largest

2:37:37survival races.

2:37:46Burchil's zebra heads up that race.

2:37:50Within the unulate world, this species

2:37:52holds an epic distinction. The longest

2:37:55straight line migration recorded in

2:37:58Africa. A round trip of more than 1,000

2:38:01kilometers linking the Okavango Delta

2:38:04and the Magadigadi salt pans.

2:38:12Why leave the lush green pastures for a

2:38:15barren desert? The answer sits [music]

2:38:18in the mineral hunger felt by pregnant

2:38:21or nursing mothers. Although the

2:38:24northern plains stay green,

2:38:30the vegetation there remains low in

2:38:32phosphorus and calcium concentrations.

2:38:36Zebras kick off their migration at an

2:38:38average pace of around 20 km per day

2:38:41[music] to reach the salt basins.

2:38:48At Magadic Gadi, sparse rainfall

2:38:51triggers the growth of salt grass whose

2:38:54mineral content far surpasses [music]

2:38:56that of ordinary grasses. It is the

2:39:00essential nutrient stock for shaping

2:39:02strong skeletal frames in foss and

2:39:05enriching milk quality for mares.

2:39:10Their

2:39:14movement is a feat of navigation and

2:39:16collective memory. Drawing on sharp

2:39:18alactory receptors, zebras can detect

2:39:22humidity on the wind from dozens of

2:39:24miles away.

2:39:29Their digestive system is equipped to

2:39:31process the toughest, driest grasses

2:39:34through hing gut fermentation.

2:39:36The mechanism lets them consume large

2:39:39volumes of low nutrient forage while

2:39:42compensating with quick processing

2:39:44speedy

2:39:52[music]

2:39:59[music]

2:40:05roar. or stamina. Their black and white

2:40:08coats work as a motion dazzle barcode.

2:40:12As thousands run in formation across the

2:40:15shimmering salt pans, the [music]

2:40:17interlocked stripes produce a visual

2:40:19puzzle. That effect scrambles the depth

2:40:22perception and targeting ability of

2:40:24[music] hunters like lions or leopards,

2:40:27making it hard to lock onto a single

2:40:29animal.

2:40:31That is how they endure in a land few

2:40:34migratory species dare to cross.

2:40:38Yet on the unforgiving route to the salt

2:40:40pans, zebras [music] do not move alone.

2:40:44When thirst begins to consume their

2:40:46hope, they must rely on a gigantic ally.

2:40:50Weighing in at up to 6 tons, the African

2:40:54bush elephant is the largest land animal

2:40:57on the planet.

2:41:05>> [music]

2:41:05>> Its power sits not only in muscle but in

2:41:08a trunk containing more than 40,000

2:41:11flexible muscle bundles.

2:41:14Moreover, elephants hold extraordinary

2:41:17spatial memory, letting them relocate

2:41:19underground water sources forgotten for

2:41:22decades when rivers are reduced to

2:41:25sunbleleached strips of sand.

2:41:32Elephants use their pillar-like legs and

2:41:35powerful trunks to excavate [music] deep

2:41:37holes in the earth. They can pick up

2:41:40subterranean moisture thanks to

2:41:43vibration receptors in [music] their

2:41:44feet and trunks.

2:41:47Once the matriarch and her family have

2:41:49drunk their fill,

2:41:51as much as 200 L each per day, they move

2:41:55on. Only then do the zebras come in to

2:41:58use whatever water remains in the deep

2:42:00holes the elephants have dug. [music]

2:42:03Without the indirect assistance of these

2:42:06giants, zebras would struggle to cover

2:42:08500 [music] km of desert without

2:42:11collapsing from dehydration.

2:42:23Elephants [music] also possess an

2:42:25infrasound communication system

2:42:26alongside their waterfinding talent. Low

2:42:30frequency sounds below 20 hertz can

2:42:33carry through the ground for up to 10

2:42:36km. [music]

2:42:37That reach helps herds stay in contact

2:42:40and coordinate movements smoothly

2:42:43between distant oases. [music]

2:42:48The shadow of the giants also serves as

2:42:51a shield protecting zebras from glowing

2:42:54eyes deep [music] in the night. For when

2:42:57dusk fades over the Kalahari desert,

2:43:00[music] a different and brutal hunting

2:43:02order begins to rise. The spotted hyena.

2:43:08Far from the cowardly scavenger popular

2:43:11prejudice, this is a hunter with one of

2:43:13the highest success rates [music] on the

2:43:16African savannah.

2:43:21They can keep a pace of 60 km hour

2:43:24across 5 km without tiring. The hyena's

2:43:28heart is oversized, making up 1% of its

2:43:32body weight, pushing oxygen fast enough

2:43:34to sustain long endurance chases.

2:43:45For that reason, shadowing elephant

2:43:47herds serves zebras as both a route to

2:43:50water and a way to borrow the authority

2:43:52of the giant gods. Hyenas, fierce as

2:43:57they are, tend to proceed cautiously and

2:44:01avoid areas occupied by adult elephants.

2:44:06Spotted hyenas operate within a rigid

2:44:09matriarchal social order where females

2:44:12outsize males and carry higher androgen

2:44:15levels.

2:44:19[screaming]

2:44:28Every member of the clan follows the

2:44:30lead of a commanding alpha female,

2:44:33forming a disciplined hunting network.

2:44:36They communicate through more than 10

2:44:38distinct calls, including the famous

2:44:41laugh.

2:44:42That vocalization is, in fact, an alarm

2:44:46signal, signaling stress or food

2:44:48competition.

2:44:50The spotted hyena acts as nature's

2:44:52unsparing filter, taking out weak

2:44:55animals to keep the migrants bloodline

2:44:58strong. They hold the harsh balance

2:45:01between life and death on the salt pans.

2:45:27As the hyena's shadow retreats into the

2:45:30dark, the mounds on the Makadik Gadi

2:45:32salt pans begin to stir. for the new

2:45:35dawn. And on those mounds, the Mircat

2:45:39takes up its role as a tireless

2:45:41sentinel.

2:45:50[music]

2:45:56[music]

2:46:01Wow.

2:46:03[music]

2:46:08[music]

2:46:15[music]

2:46:19The dark circles around their eyes

2:46:21operate as [music] built-in anti-glare

2:46:24sunglasses, letting them stare straight

2:46:26into the sky to scan for danger. They

2:46:30carry an exceptionally detailed warning

2:46:32vocabulary [music] of more than 30

2:46:35distinct calls. They can accurately sort

2:46:38ground threats [music] such as wild dogs

2:46:41from aerial threats such as the Marshall

2:46:43Eagle.

2:46:51[music]

2:47:10Once a Mircat sounds the alarm, that

2:47:14particular call frequency instantly

2:47:16engages the zebra herd's self-defense

2:47:19response.

2:47:21With their sharp hearing, zebras swiftly

2:47:24close into a defensive [music] group or

2:47:26withdraw. In return, zebras can scatter

2:47:30smaller predators or stir the soil to

2:47:34expose insects for the mircats.

2:47:39A mircat strength also rests on total

2:47:42unity within clans that can number up to

2:47:4450 individuals. Each one stands ready

2:47:48[music] to forego foraging to serve as a

2:47:50sentry, ensuring the entire community's

2:47:53safety.

2:47:55Their

2:48:07stomachs cannot [music] store fat,

2:48:10forcing constant hunting to fuel a

2:48:12breakneck metabolism. Even more

2:48:15remarkably, mircats can shrug off many

2:48:18types of scorpion and snake [music]

2:48:20venoms thanks to mutations in their

2:48:23nicotinic acetylcholine receptors.

2:48:27The unseen coordination between zebras

2:48:30and mircats showcases the wisdom of the

2:48:33macadi [music] ecosystem.

2:48:39A place where a minute creature can

2:48:42become the [music] eyes for giants and

2:48:44life finds protection through the most

2:48:46unexpected partnerships.

2:48:48Yet not [music] every animal requires

2:48:51partners to endure. Rather than trailing

2:48:54elephants for water in the zebras

2:48:56[music] fashion, the GMSbach has been

2:48:58shaped into a permanent occupant of the

2:49:01arid lands.

2:49:09To outlast days [music] when ground

2:49:11temperatures climb past 50° C, they

2:49:15depend on a blood vessel network called

2:49:18the corroted ret.

2:49:21Hot blood arriving from the body is

2:49:23cooled by air in the nasal cavity before

2:49:26entering the brain. This allows their

2:49:29core temperature to reach 45° C without

2:49:33inflicting neurological harm.

2:49:41They can last for weeks and at times

2:49:44months without taking a single sip of

2:49:46water. They extract moisture from

2:49:49tubers, roots, and wild melons buried

2:49:53deep beneath the desert sand.

2:50:01They possess the ability to concentrate

2:50:03urine to the maximum and draw every bit

2:50:06of moisture back from their feces to

2:50:09block water loss through excretion.

2:50:12When humidity climbs at night, desert

2:50:14plants take on moisture. The GMS selects

2:50:18this window to graze, harvesting that

2:50:21precious extra water.

2:50:24The GMS's presence sounds like a deep

2:50:27bass note underscoring the cost of

2:50:29freedom in a setting without mercy.

2:50:32Here, the winner is not the swiftest

2:50:34runner, but the one that turns scarcity

2:50:37into an absolute survival edge

2:50:50as the southern salt pans fall into

2:50:52quiet. Another enormous pulse begins to

2:50:55shake the Serengeti.

2:50:59The great migration, [music] an unending

2:51:03survival cycle stretched across 30,000

2:51:06kilm between Tanzania and Kenya.

2:51:14Leading the Serengeti's vast pulse is

2:51:17the wilderbeast. Despite their somewhat

2:51:19awkward frame, Wilderbeast are true

2:51:22endurance [music]

2:51:23athletes capable of holding 80 km per

2:51:26hour.

2:51:28With an overwhelming force of 1.5

2:51:31million individuals, they form a single

2:51:34biological organism, a massive pulse of

2:51:37life flowing across the savannah.

2:51:41Their 800 km circular odyssey is a

2:51:45search for phosphorus and nitrogen

2:51:48concentrations.

2:51:50By consuming over 5,000 tons of grass

2:51:53each day, they keep shrub encroachment

2:51:56in check and stimulate the rise of

2:51:59nitrogenrich new pastures. [music]

2:52:02Their digestive tracts function as

2:52:05rolling fertilizer plants, spreading

2:52:08millions of tons of organic nutrients

2:52:11back across the soil.

2:52:14The wilderbeast's migratory pattern

2:52:16leans on a distinctive ability, storm

2:52:19sensors.

2:52:21They can detect infrasound from thunder

2:52:23and the scent of rain moisture from more

2:52:25than 50 km away.

2:52:30Each animal relies on collective

2:52:33intelligence to make decisions capable

2:52:35of overcoming harsh obstacles.

2:52:40During the birthing season, a remarkable

2:52:42biological phenomenon takes place.

2:52:46[music] More than 500,000 calves arrive

2:52:50within just 2 to 3 weeks.

2:52:54This synchronized birthing strategy

2:52:57helps maximize the survival rate in the

2:52:59face of surrounding predators. [music]

2:53:02A wilderbeast calf can stand solidly and

2:53:05keep pace with the herd only 7 minutes

2:53:08after being born. That ranks among the

2:53:12fastest developmental rates anywhere in

2:53:15the animal kingdom.

2:53:17The wilderbeast tide [music] likewise

2:53:19sustains a food chain for thousands of

2:53:22other species from lions and leopards to

2:53:25the vultures that circle overhead.

2:53:33Even when they fall in the Mara River,

2:53:36their remains feed the aquatic ecosystem

2:53:43with vast protein for months afterward.

2:53:46Through their migration, they keep the

2:53:48breath of the savannah from ever going

2:53:50still.

2:53:56Marching alongside the wilderbeast are

2:53:58more than 200,000 plain zebras.

2:54:04They serve as the vanguard of the

2:54:06Serengeti expedition.

2:54:11They possess a rugged build with a

2:54:13single hoof configuration and extremely

2:54:16strong in sizes for handling the

2:54:19coarsest forage.

2:54:23Unlike ruminants, zebras belong to the

2:54:26hingut fermenttor group. They can break

2:54:29down food 30% faster than antelopes.

2:54:33They take in large quantities of

2:54:35lowquality grass and [music] extract

2:54:37energy from it at high speed.

2:54:42In the symphony of the great migration,

2:54:45zebras play the role of pioneer

2:54:48lawnmowers,

2:54:52opening the way for the entire system

2:54:54[music] that trails behind them.

2:55:01>> [music]

2:55:04>> They travel days, sometimes weeks, ahead

2:55:07of the wilderbeast herd.

2:55:11Their job is to work through the top

2:55:14layer of tall grasses, old, fibrous, and

2:55:17heavy [music] with roughage.

2:55:21By stripping off that tough outer layer,

2:55:24zebras reveal the young soft stems and

2:55:27leaves beneath, rich in protein and

2:55:30minerals.

2:55:33The zebra's visual system is also a

2:55:36major asset to the safety of the entire

2:55:38migratory army.

2:55:42With eyes set on the sides of the head,

2:55:45they enjoy a nearly 360°

2:55:48field of view.

2:55:50Highly tuned to spotting unusual

2:55:53movement in the brush, they are the most

2:55:55effective early warning system in the

2:55:58herd.

2:56:04The lion ranks among the most dangerous

2:56:06of those threats. It is the only member

2:56:09of the cat family to maintain a complex

2:56:12social life built around hunting large

2:56:15prey. A mature male lion can weigh up to

2:56:19250 kg.

2:56:22Its robust skeletal frame and muscle

2:56:24mass make up 60% of its body weight.

2:56:28When 1.5 million wilderbeast flood their

2:56:31territory, lions shift into an extreme

2:56:34energy harvesting mode to feed their

2:56:37cubs.

2:56:38Lion hunting success [music]

2:56:40surges from 15% to over 30% during the

2:56:45peak of the migration.

2:56:47Lionesses with lean bodies and explosive

2:56:50speeds of 80 km per hour take on the

2:56:53role of chasing and driving prey into

2:56:56ambush pockets. Adult males powered by

2:57:00brute strength move in for the final

2:57:02step, drawing on their sheer weight to

2:57:05subdue prey quickly and bring the

2:57:08encounter to a decisive close. By

2:57:11focusing on old, sick or slow animals,

2:57:15they carry out a strict natural

2:57:18selection. The process keeps disease

2:57:20from spreading through a crowd of

2:57:22millions and ensures that only the

2:57:24healthiest genes pass to the next

2:57:26generation.

2:57:34Climate change, however, is nudging the

2:57:37timing of the migration, squeezing lion

2:57:41survival as food sources grow

2:57:43unpredictable.

2:57:51Lion numbers have fallen by 43% over the

2:57:55past two decades, leaving their role in

2:57:57ecosystem control more fragile than

2:58:00ever.

2:58:08Yet the greatest test the migrants face

2:58:11lies beneath the muddy waters of the

2:58:13Mara River.

2:58:15One of the world's largest and most

2:58:18fearsome reptiles. A predator that has

2:58:21persisted nearly unchanged for the last

2:58:2465 million years.

2:58:31Stretching up to 5 m and exceeding 700

2:58:35kg, they are ambush hunting machines in

2:58:38their purest form.

2:58:41Their armored hide carries pressure

2:58:43receptors capable of picking up the

2:58:45faintest vibrations from prey moving

2:58:47[music] through the water.

2:58:55The Nile crocodile is a master of

2:58:57patience. It can remain submerged for up

2:59:00to 2 hours while waiting for prey. It

2:59:03can go a full year without a meal, yet

2:59:06take [music] in food equal to half its

2:59:08body weight in just a few migration

2:59:11days.

2:59:13The weakest or [music] slowest migrants

2:59:16tend to be targeted in the water where

2:59:18the crocodile falls back [music] on its

2:59:20signature rotational technique.

2:59:24That powerful maneuver allows the

2:59:27predator to efficiently process a catch

2:59:29using the torque of its entire body to

2:59:32its advantage.

2:59:41Nile crocodiles are the imposing

2:59:44gatekeepers of the blue corridors

2:59:46flowing through the savannah.

2:59:49Their presence turns every river

2:59:51crossing into a purification right in

2:59:54which only the strongest and most

2:59:56fortunate earn the right to step onto

2:59:59the far bank.

3:00:07Once the harsh culling by crocodiles and

3:00:10lions ends, the remnants of life are not

3:00:13left to waste beneath the blazing sun.

3:00:16The whitebacked vulture, the Serengeti's

3:00:19diligent sanitation crew.

3:00:25They boast a wingspan of up to 2.2 m. It

3:00:29is the ideal build for riding thermal

3:00:31columns and gliding for hours with

3:00:34barely any energy spent.

3:00:38Their specialized traits help them stay

3:00:41clean while efficiently scavenging,

3:00:44ensuring that no essential nutrients are

3:00:46wasted in the savannah's life cycle.

3:00:51Remarkably, the whitebacked vulture

3:00:53stomach runs at an acidity of roughly

3:00:56pH1, more aggressive than car battery

3:00:59acid.

3:01:01Their

3:01:02intensely acidic stomachs let them

3:01:05neutralize even the most dangerous

3:01:07pathogens and bacteria lurking in

3:01:10carcasses without harm.

3:01:14[screaming]

3:01:15Within the great migration, vultures

3:01:17serve as biological waste processing

3:01:21centers

3:01:23operating at peak capacity. Their

3:01:26presence prevents disease outbreaks from

3:01:28carrying spreading into water and air,

3:01:30safeguarding the health of the entire

3:01:33migratory herd.

3:01:59Greatness in a voyage is not [music]

3:02:01measured only by thundering hooves or

3:02:04wingspans that blot out the sun. It is

3:02:07also [music] the microscopic realm where

3:02:09tiny creatures carry out migrations of

3:02:12astonishing tenacity.

3:02:18The monarch butterfly may be the most

3:02:21[music] iconic face of those journeys.

3:02:24An animal weighing less than a gram, yet

3:02:26carrying the genetic blueprint [music]

3:02:28of a transcontinental voyager.

3:02:35They hold a sophisticated navigation

3:02:38toolkit [music]

3:02:38using a sun compass paired with a

3:02:41biological clock housed in their

3:02:44antenna, calibrating flight direction to

3:02:47the changing [music] angle of sunlight.

3:02:54>> [music]

3:02:57>> The monarch butterflies migration is a

3:03:00procession of more than 4,800 [music]

3:03:02km from southern Canada and the US to

3:03:06the OAL fur [music] forests perched on

3:03:09Mexican volcanoes.

3:03:14The greatest wonder [music] is the

3:03:16arrival of a special generation named by

3:03:19scientists the Methusela generation.

3:03:24While ordinary butterfly [music]

3:03:25generations live for only 2 to 6 weeks,

3:03:29Methusela butterflies can last up to 8

3:03:31months, eight times the norm.

3:03:37By delaying reproductive diapors,

3:03:39[music]

3:03:40they channel every reserve into building

3:03:42lipid stores for the transcontinental

3:03:45flight.

3:03:48Yet even in the oamel forests, the calm

3:03:52of millions of butterfly wings offers no

3:03:56[music] unbreakable shield.

3:03:59The monarch butterflyy's body

3:04:01accumulates high concentrations of

3:04:04cardonoli glycoides [music]

3:04:08acquired from milkweed is a deterrent

3:04:11that disrupts the [music] heart function

3:04:13of many vertebrate predators.

3:04:19The blackheaded grows beak, [music]

3:04:21however, tolerates cardinalides at

3:04:23levels hundreds of times higher than

3:04:26other birds of comparable size. [music]

3:04:32Rather than eating the whole insect,

3:04:34[music] they deafly use their

3:04:36specialized beaks to target the

3:04:38lipidrich abdomen.

3:04:40[music]

3:04:43carefully steering clear of the

3:04:45butterflyy's most toxic parts.

3:04:53Leaving OAL [music]

3:04:55behind, we arrive at a remote island, a

3:04:58drift in the Indian Ocean.

3:05:01[music]

3:05:03When the first rains of the wet season

3:05:05fall, a biological trigger fires at the

3:05:08same instant [music] inside the bodies

3:05:10of over 50 million Christmas Island red

3:05:13crabs.

3:05:15[music]

3:05:19The entire 135 [music] km island appears

3:05:24blanketed by a moving red carpet.

3:05:29A cascading [music] crustation wave

3:05:31spilling over roads and cliffs. The sole

3:05:35aim [music] of this expedition is the

3:05:37reproductive cycle. Males excavate

3:05:40burrows along the shore to mate.

3:05:49Females wait for the right tidal phase

3:05:51to [music] release eggs. At high tide

3:05:53under a waning moon, each female casts

3:05:56[music] roughly 100,000 eggs into the

3:05:59sea,

3:06:03producing an enormous biological cloud

3:06:06just beneath the salty surface.

3:06:10After a month of development in the open

3:06:12ocean, crablets the size of match heads

3:06:14begin the return trip. They crawl from

3:06:17the waves back to the green forest to