Original subtitles

(pulsing guitar music)

In Patagonia

the rules are simple.

In order to eat, a puma must use stealth.

For her prey, staying alive requires vigilance.

She holds the power of life

and death.

(hoof beats)

(cat screams)

But even for this master hunter,

survival is the ultimate challenge.

(tranquil birds chirping)

Late afternoon in the Southern Andes.

It's a time when this predator and her prey

maintain an uneasy truce.

(guanaco calls)

The guanacos know that she mainly hunts at night.

(guanaco calls)

So they should be safe,

at least until the sun goes down.

(wind blows)

(ominous music)

Like all cats,

the puma has superb night vision.

But if the guanacos detect her scent,

the hunt will be over.

(ominous music)

(guanaco calls)

She circles around

to stay downwind of her quarry.

The guanaco is blissfully unaware,

contentedly chewing it's cud.

But not for long.

(ominous music)

(thundering music)

(puma screams) (guanaco cries)

Once her prey is still,

the puma wastes no time gorging herself.

The guanacos stay on alert,

but the puma will not kill again tonight.

She won't have to.

Torres del Paine National Park in southern Chile.

This is the puma's hunting ground.

(bird calls)

A place as harsh and unforgiving as it's climate.

(strong wind blows)

Fierce storms can erupt in an instant.

They lash the land and it's inhabitants

with hurricane force winds.

(wind blows)

Then, just as quickly, calm is restored.

And life can return to normal.

(gentle music)

It's November. Spring.

After the bleak southern winter,

color is returning to the land.

Scarlet Gorse and Slipper Flowers are in bloom.

(birds chirping)

Everywhere there are signs of abundance.

And of new life.

A litter of fox cubs, just two weeks old.

(fox cries)

Already they're hard at work,

figuring out their pecking order,

and exploring their new world.

The guanacos have their own newborns to care for.

The fox cubs aren't quite sure

what to make of these strange creatures.

(guitar music)

The calves, called chulengos,

are kept together in a kind of guanaco nursery.

(guitar music)

Here, under adult supervision,

they can safely play and socialize,

and master skills they'll need to survive.

When playtime is over, it's time for grooming.

Wallowing in a dry hollow helps get rid of parasites

before they settle in their thick fleece.

(guitar music)

The herd seems nervous today.

Perhaps they've caught a whiff of puma.

Daylight hunts are rarely succesful,

but this hungry puma is willing to take a chance.

Her loose stomach is a sign that she's recently given birth.

She needs to eat more to produce enough milk.

(ominous music)

(puma cries)

The puma is lucky,

scoring a kill close to where she hid her cubs.

They instinctively stay under cover

until they hear her call.

(puma calls)

Once she eats her fill

she does her best to hide the carcass,

so she can save the rest for another meal.

(puma cries)

(cubs cry)

Mother and cubs retreat to the woods to spend the afternoon.

She can use her rest.

The cubs are always raring to go.

Trees are uncommon in this section of the park,

and the grove is home to other families too.

A Chilean Flicker is raising a brood of chicks.

(tranquil music)

Fortunately, for all these new mothers and their young,

it's a time of plenty in Torres del Paine.

The animals take advantage of it while they can.

Even the fox, usually active at night,

is out and about in broad daylight.

(playful music)

When she gets home, there's always a warm welcome.

(fox cries)

Her five cubs are growing fast.

And it's up to her to make sure the milk keeps flowing

by keeping herself well fed.

For the guanacos, there are other priorities besides eating.

The mating season is beginning

and males are eager to show who's boss.

There's only room for one dominant male in the herd.

Rivals fight for the job.

(guanaco cries)

There's a lot at stake.

The winner gets to claim the herd's females as his harem,

and pass on his genes to the next generation.

The loser must be on his way.

Now the dominant male can get down to business.

Her scent tells him she's ready to mate.

But she won't make it too easy.

When she drops to the ground, he knows she's willing.

Sex among guanacos can be a brief affair.

If their timing is off, things can get a little awkward.

While the lead male tends to his duties,

other members of the herd stand guard.

(epic music)

Night is not far off,

and night always brings danger.

At the edge of the woods, the puma rests.

She needs her strength for the rigors of the hunt.

For the cubs, nap time is over,

and they're ready for more games.

(mischevious music)

Tree climbing comes naturally to pumas,

as it does to most cats.

But figuring out how to get back down takes practice.

A Magellanic Horned Owl is not impressed with their skills.

The third cub has other interests.

Climbing is kid's stuff.

She's practicing the grown-up art of stalking.

But owls are not easy prey.

By late afternoon the guanaco herd is growing edgy.

This is when the puma begins to prowl.

She's a master hunter.

Controlling a territory that could take in

more than 100 square kilometers.

But every hunt is a gamble,

and she can't always get what she wants.

(ominous music)

The key to success is stealth.

Especially in daylight, with the guanacos on alert.

She must not only surprise her prey,

but keep any other animals from raising the alarm.

(guanaco screams)

(pounding music)

(puma screams)

The puma would normally hide her kill

while she fetches her cubs.

But it has already attracted attention.

She takes a chance,

though she knows the scavengers

will arrive as soon as she leaves.

And they do.

The guanaco weighs about 100 kilograms.

There should be plenty left when she gets back.

The Crested Caracara is first on the scene.

But it's a timid bird and soon retreats,

allowing the fox to take over.

Caracara's may be cousins of hawks and falcons,

but they're not much for hunting

or fighting off a fox.

(sweeping music)

Under cover of darkness the rightful owner of the kill

returns to reclaim her prize.

Once she's confident the coast is clear,

she calls her cubs to supper.

At two months old, they're nearly weened,

graduating from mother's milk to a share of her kills.

And young pumas quickly acquire a taste for meat.

(growling)

Even at the rate they're eating,

this big guanaco could feed the family

for two or three days.

If they can keep it from scavengers.

The mother puma knows when they've had enough.

(mother puma cries)

But the cubs, always ravenous, need reminding.

(playful music)

For them, a break from eating is another chance to play.

(playful music)

Their mom isn't interested.

Hunting and feeding have left her exhausted.

They'll depend on the leftovers for their next meal.

It's not easy to hide such a big carcass.

But she worked too hard to lose it all to scavengers.

Now it's time to go.

They need to find a secluded spot

where the cubs will be safe,

and she can regain her strength for the next hunt.

(epic music)

The craggy peaks of Torres del Paine

are home to condors,

one of the region's top scavengers.

And that's unfortunate for the puma.

With their sharp eyes,

death rarely escapes the condor's notice.

Caracaras are already hard at work on the pumas kill,

but their meal will soon come to an end.

Condors are big and powerful, with an enormous wingspan,

more than three meters.

Now the carcass is theirs.

And with so many gathering at the feast,

there will be nothing left for the pumas when they return.

(hungry growls)

But condors are skittish birds.

Any disturbance can distract them from feeding,

or throw them into a panic.

But it's hard to takeoff uphill,

especially on a full stomach.

Condors need a lot of lift under their big wings.

(majestic music)

They return to the safety of their rookeries

to wait for their next opportunity.

This is the opening the caracaras were watiting for.

(caracaras calling)

The fox doesn't want to miss her chance either.

(caracaras calling)

It's a nice change from her usual diet

of rodents and rabbits.

Once she eats her fill,

the caracaras can come back for seconds.

Like the puma and the fox,

the birds have their own young ones to feed.

(birds calling)

Caracara chicks are always hungry

and their parents aren't great hunters.

Having fresh meat available makes life a lot easier.

(birds calling)

Only the puma can take down an adult guanaco.

But the big cat's hunting skill

provides a windfall for many of it's neighbors.

It can spell the difference between survival and starvation.

For the guanacos, the best way to survive

is to stay on guard.

It's autumn now, when they gather in large herds.

Sentinels are deployed at every vantage point.

They depend on their keen senses to detect the puma

before she has a chance to strike.

After losing her last kill to scavengers,

the puma is risking another daylight hunt.

Her cubs are growing fast,

and she's the family's only hunter.

To hide her scent, she stalks into the wind.

And the steady autumn breeze

covers the sound of her approach.

(ominous music)

But with so many eyes surveying the landscape

(guanaco calls)

(guanaco calls)

the puma is usually spotted.

Once the sentinels sound the alarm

the game is up.

Every animal within earshot

knows about the puma's failed hunt.

She and her cubs will have to try their luck elsewhere.

(slow music)

(wind blows)

(majestic music)

June marks the start of winter in Patagonia.

Fierce storms sweep in from the Pacific Ocean

or over the inland ice fields.

Bringing snow to Torres del Paine.

Most of the parks inhabitants take it in stride.

The puma follows the guanacos

down to lower elevations.

But even the thin snow cover here

makes the big cat easier to spot,

which makes hunting harder.

The guanacos always find something to eat.

Grass is almost never completely buried.

The Magellan Barbery keeps it's leaves all year round,

and the thorns pose no problem.

(sweeping music)

Even in winter, the ground seldom stays white for very long.

Constant mountain winds blow away most of the snow.

A single sunny afternoon will take care of the rest.

Despite the challenges of winter hunting,

today the puma and her cubs can feed

on the carcass of last night's kill.

Scavengers keep a close eye on the puma's movements.

But she knows better than to give away the location.

The pumas wait until twilight to return to the kill.

In this light, they're much harder to spot.

These big cats live in many habitats.

From the Rockies of North America

all the way to southern Patagonia.

They go by many names.

Cougar, Mountain Lion,

Panther, and Puma.

The pumas here in Torres del Paine

are some of the largest of their kind,

and they're thriving.

(growling)

By hiding the carcass under a layer of grass,

one kill can supply them with several meals.

But it doesn't last as long as it did

when the cubs were small.

While her family is eating,

the puma will tolerate no intrusions.

Certainly not from a scavenging fox.

He knows better than to risk a direct challenge.

He'll have to settle for scraps if he wants to live.

(epic music)

The mother puma is an expert hunter,

and an excellent provider.

For nearly a year and a half,

she has cared for her three cubs,

and taught them the ways of their kind.

It's almost time for them to start doing their own hunting.

They're becoming more interested in the guanacos.

And the guanacos try to keep their distance.

For now though, the cubs seem to be in no hurry to grow up.

(guitar music)

Like the constant winds that scour these granite peaks,

the seasons flow ceaselessly.

Soon it's summer again in Torres del Paine.

(guanaco cries)

For the guanaco herd, it's time for calving.

Like their relatives, llamas and alpacas,

guanacos often give birth standing up.

(grand music)

For the newborn, it's a rude awakening.

But there is no time to waste.

If the little chulengo is to have any chance of survival,

it must stand up right away.

The world it has entered is a dangerous place.

(ominous music)

(puma cries)

The puma makes off with a guanaco calf.

But instead of killing it, she turns it over to her cubs.

She watches what happens so she can judge their progress.

It may seem cruel to us, but this is an important test

of the cubs' killer instincts.

Finally, one of the cubs finishes off the chulengo.

She shows promise as a hunter.

And no wonder, she has a good teacher.

The cubs' education is almost over.

Soon they will leave their mother

and head out on their own.

As full fledged hunters,

they'll assume a crucial role in this wildlife community.

Pumas not only provide food for their neighbors,

they help control the population of their prey,

and prevent overgrazing.

But will the cubs be ready when the time comes?

At 17 months, the puma cubs

are nearing the end of their time together.

(playful music)

Soon they'll be solitary hunters.

They enjoy each others company while they can.

The little Wren is not too happy

about having her tree turned into a jungle gym.

Fortunately, the cubs aren't interested in birds.

(epic music)

At the height of summer,

the guanaco herd settles into a daily routine.

They spend long hours chewing their cud,

relaxing in the thick grass.

(ominous music)

They don't even notice the intruder.

One of the puma cubs, the budding hunter,

has made her way into the heart of the herd.

She has mastered her mother's lessons in stealth.

Now, what else can she do?

(thundering music)

The young puma didn't count on a shifting breeze.

An alert guard picked up her scent.

The hunt is all over before it began.

But she's learned the importance of another rule.

For a successful hunt, it's best to wait until dark.

She spots a group of guanacos

feeding near the park boundary fence.

There's no point in rushing things.

She'll wait until after the sun sets.

This is her moment.

She selects her target.

Now she calls on every skill,

every tactic learned from her mother.

Stalking downwind, she moves in silence,

like a shadow.

(thundering music)

(puma cries)

Blocked by the fence, her prey has no chance of escape.

The cub pulls off her first succesful hunt.

And victory is sweet.

The young puma has passed a crucial threshold.

Her apprenticeship is over.

From this moment on, she is a hunter.

As if their lives were not difficult enough,

the guanacos now have another predator to watch out for.

(grand music)

This is truly the dawning of a new day.

The torch is passed from mother to daughter.

Now it is the cubs turn to share her kill with her family.

And it's up to her to hide the carcass,

as she was taught to do.

The cubs and their mother

are spending their last days together.

The new hunter's siblings will soon catch up with her.

Then, they'll all go their separate ways.

(sweeping music)

And here in Torres del Paine,

a new generation of pumas will rule.

(gentle violin music)