00:00And now the snakes are on the alert.
00:09This is the best feeding opportunity they will get all year.
00:22On flat ground, a baby iguana can outrun a racer snake, but others are waiting in ambush.
00:49Another hatchling has its first glimpse of a dangerous world.
01:46A snake's eyes aren't very good, but they can detect movement.
02:14So if the hatchling keeps its nerve, it may just avoid detection.
03:44A near-miraculous escape.
04:00The lucky survivors can begin learning the unique way of life demanded by this hostile
04:06island.
04:09As they mature, young males begin to explore the boundaries of the pride's territory.
04:21Red has ventured out alone.
04:38And blundered straight into the middle of the hyena clan.
04:49He's trapped by over 20 of them.
05:19The pack tries to let him out, but he's too young for the hyenas to kill him.
05:49It's impossible to fight them all at once.
06:15He can't keep them at bay for much longer.
06:19He's towering fast.
06:30His ally, Tartu, has heard the commotion.
06:54Now the odds have changed.
07:04Even for 20 hyenas, a pair of male lions is too much to take on.
07:22During the dry season, over half a million terns crowd onto this remote atoll in the
07:29Indian Ocean.
07:38Their chicks are still in their dark juvenile plumage.
07:46They vary in age.
07:56Whilst the more advanced chicks take to the air,
08:07others aren't quite ready yet.
08:30Those just starting to learn to fly use the shallow lagoon that occupies the centre of
08:35the atoll as their training ground.
08:41It's difficult for some of them to stay aloft for long.
09:08The giant tree valleys.
09:23Usually they are solitary hunters, but about 50 of them have come here from neighbouring
09:30attracted by this abundance of potential prey.
09:41The fledglings stay out of the water if they can.
09:46They even drink on the wing.
10:06If the two valley are to catch one now, they have to up their game.
10:21So there is a fish here that amazingly has a brain capable of calculating the air speed,
10:28altitude and trajectory of a bird.
10:58The time comes when every fledgling has to take to the air and collect food for itself.
11:29Their parents lead them to the training grounds.
11:53Their parents lead them to the training grounds.
12:03Their parents lead them to the training grounds.
12:23Their parents lead them to the training grounds.
12:43Their parents lead them to the training grounds.
13:11If they are to survive, they must learn quickly.
13:24After a month of practising over the lagoon, the youngsters start to leave and take their
13:29chances out over the open sea.
13:33Exhausted from his swim, the bear must regain his strength.
13:44The next day, a sea fog shrouds the island.
13:48The wallases sense that they're in danger.
13:54Using the fog as cover, the bear approaches the herd.
14:03The adults close ranks around their young, presenting a wall of blubber and hide.
14:17He tests the barrier, but it stands firm.
14:23It appears that the world's largest land carnivore has met his match.
14:35There must be a chink in the armour somewhere.
14:42Not here.
14:52This female walrus is shielding her pup, if he can just prise her off.
15:04The bear's claws and teeth can't penetrate her thick hide.
15:17With the herd retreating to water, the bear must move quickly.
15:27Having failed with one, he heads straight for another.
15:47The chance of his first meal in months is slipping away.
15:58He seems increasingly desperate.
16:06It's now or never.
16:09He must avoid the stabbing tusks if he's to win.
16:20The flailing walrus is immensely powerful and drags the bear away from the shallows towards the safety of the herd.
16:43It slips from his grasp.
16:50Mantids will eat anything that moves, including other mantids.
17:12Time to leave.
17:24This tiny insect is now open to attack from predators lurking in the undergrowth.
17:40Whether an individual mantis survives or not is partly a matter of chance.
17:50Whether it's spotted by a predator.
17:59Whether it turns right or left.
18:12So far, its luck has held.
18:16But this hungry jumping spider is still in pursuit.
18:25A mantis is born with exceptional eyesight, but a spider's is even better.
18:37Although this young mantis can't yet fly, its long forelegs, evolved to catch prey, give it reach.
19:06There seems to be no escape.
19:21But this mantis has a surprising line in self-defense.
19:28Kung fu, praying mantis style.
19:43Of course, it's all bluff, trying to look bigger and confuse its enemy.
19:52But it's got a way with it.
20:03Just staying alive for its first few hours is a significant accomplishment for a newly hatched insect.
20:12But there's still a long way to go.
20:15With a bit of luck, in two months time, it will be as big and beautiful as this orchid mantid.
20:33Or maybe not.
20:37After all, mantids are cannibals.
20:49Stony canyons provide a sanctuary for animals throughout the Middle East.
20:55Like Nubian ibex.
21:04These wild goats can only survive here because precious water bubbles to the surface in springs.
21:16In summer, the females come to drink at these pools every day.
21:22The pool is guarded by a male ibex.
21:26He has exclusive access to the females who come here.
21:34He tastes the air to see if any of them are ready to mate.
21:43But this is such a prized spot that inevitably he has competition.
21:54Getting the upper ground will be key.
22:24The male's skulls are specially reinforced to take a battering.
22:49They are evenly matched.
22:51The battle could last up to an hour.
23:15But when a third male joins in, no one seems to know who to fight.
23:25The party is soon broken up by a telltale smell in the air.
23:39The ibex are right to be skittish.
23:43Bedouin have always been skilled hunters.
23:48Kenya, famous for its big cats, the supreme hunters.
24:06Cheetahs specialize in hunting at speed.
24:10Though fast, they're fragile creatures built to sprint after small prey.
24:17They don't have the strength or weight of a lion to bring down larger animals.
24:24This male is different.
24:26He doesn't hunt alone. He's learnt that there is strength in numbers.
24:44But here, there are not just two, but three cheetahs.
24:49A band of brothers.
24:58They have changed their tactics, and by doing so, have taken their prey by surprise.
25:05They have learnt that, working together, they can bring down large prey.
25:15An ostrich.
25:17A bird that towers over a cheetah and is more than twice as heavy.
25:22It can't fly to escape danger, but it can lash out with a deadly kick.
25:29A female, unaware as yet of any danger.
25:39Even with three of them, this is still highly risky.
25:43If one gets injured, the other two couldn't hope to tackle such large prey.
25:56On the other hand, if they get it right, the rewards are huge.
26:09The male has spotted one of the brothers, but only one.
26:14It's not too worried.
26:28Then suddenly, there are three.
26:42The female is slower to realise the danger, and the cheetahs switch targets.
27:12It takes the combined effort and weight of all three brothers to bring down this powerful bird.
27:19Even now, the ostrich could land a fatal kick.
27:30So far, the brothers are winning.
27:32Ostriches have yet to find a way to foil such tactics.
27:38High up in the Rockies, one of the greatest gatherings in the Wild West is underway.
27:49For most of the year, bison bulls and cows live separate lives.
27:54But for a few weeks in late summer, thousands congregate in this yellowstone valley.
28:04It's the rut, the mating season, and the biggest bulls are busy guarding their harems.
28:12A dominant bull might mate with over 50 females.
28:22For the calves born this year, now is the time to stretch their young legs.
28:38But as the herd grows, so tensions rise.
29:08The rut takes a heavy toll on the big bulls.
29:26So arriving now could give this young contender an edge.
29:41But there's life in the old bull yet.
30:09Head to head, the challenger more than holds his own.
30:14Then he makes a small mistake.
30:19Shunted aside, his challenge is brutally ended.
30:41The young bull gambled everything and has paid a heavy price.
30:54Somehow, in this melee of 60,000 or so penguins, a parent has to find its chick.
31:11It returns to the place where it last left its chick in the hope that it might still be close by.
31:20In the rut, chicks tend to wander, so the adult has to call to it.
31:39The chick responds and they slowly home in on one another.
31:44The instinctive entreaties of the chick stimulates the adult to regurgitate a mouthful of fish.
32:00With the return of one parent, the other is free to go to sea to feed for itself.
32:20Aware of the leopard seal's presence, the penguins press together at the ice edge, unwilling to be the first to risk diving in.
32:44Occasionally, the seal comes out onto the ice and attempts to grab one.
33:04But its most successful strategy by far is to lie in wait.
33:17It hides behind a corner of ice.
33:22The emperors gain confidence and make a dash for it.
33:37The first wave of penguins escape.
33:43Once in open water, they will be safe.
33:50But the seal is alerted by the noise and through the massive bubbles, it makes its attack.
34:06Almost invariably, it makes a kill.
34:17Encouraged by the absence of the seal, the remaining penguins make a break for the open sea.
34:42In time, their chicks will fledge.
34:45And when the Antarctic autumn is near its end, these adults will walk across the newly formed ice to endure yet another winter on the frozen sea.
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