Original subtitles

Africa as you've never seen it before

for the first time a unique camera and

trained observers reveal a new world

their images may change your view

forever

this is the picture you're used to

seeing a herd of wildebeest on the move

across the vast untamed wilderness of

the Serengeti and this the animal

portrayed as the noble king of the

beasts along with his fellow hunting

experts supposedly lording it over their

domain while the Laughing hyena normally

gets a bad press as a sneaky scavenger

an ugly coward

usually two humans are kept out of the

shot yet the presence of the Masai and

of their cattle affects the whole

balance of nature in this area

now the most sensitive low-light camera

in the world shows you truer images need

a little bit value then re na nanana

well the mass I enjoyed the warmth of

their Hut outside the electronic eye at

last turns night in today in the

pitch-black unexpected scenes challenge

conventional expectations

the Serengeti is a complex system of

natural relationships home to half a

million Thomson's gazelle a quarter of a

million zebra and more than a million

fill the beast the ville de beasts are

the stars of the spectacular migrations

as they follow the rains to lush

grasslands

this is the greatest concentration of

game in all Africa

their numbers attract the top predators

3000 Lions in numerous prides but by day

contrary to what most films show the big

cats are not a serious threat to the

herds good eyesight and safety in

numbers protect the ville de beast this

lion

certainly acts like a natural killer by

contrast the hyenas are just hanging

about in fact he didn't make the kill he

stole it from more skillful hunters the

blood on their faces proves just who did

make the kill all too often hyenas have

war trade as light-fingered late comers

yet while the hyenas were feeding the

Prince of Phoenix help this is the bit

most wildlife films leave out lions

pinch the hyenas prey far from

scavenging for a living nine times out

of ten hyenas make the kill at first

sight the lion in a hyena are locked in

a struggle for the same prey how can the

hyenas make a living here at all until

now the only images come from filming by

day but lions and hyenas hunt most of

their food in the dark the balance of

power is about to shift for everyone

here

serengeti straddles the border between

Kenya and Tanzania but the Serengeti

plains stretch far beyond the park

boundaries and to the east live the

Masai with their cattle at dusk they

retire with their herds to the safety of

their villages or Burma's

a wall of thorns keeps thieves in

attackers away from their cattle and has

the mass I rarely venture out at night

except in force

empty by day the grating land suddenly

looks rather full and these cats are not

here for a nap this is the only camera

capable of recording what now happens

technology also allows researchers to

make a call to the animals themselves

Tom Maddox is counting predators in the

Serengeti he too thought the mass island

was empty of lions and hyenas as they're

never seen by day but Tom soon got a

shock now he prefers to make his

observations from the safety of his Land

Rover we use this technique that we call

callings and we basically have a tape of

highness on a wildebeest Hill and when

hyenas wanna kill they make this

whooping noises and these fighting

noises there's also a lion on the tape

and it's fighting with the hyenas and

there's all this big commotion over this

kill and we play this tape on speakers

on top of the car and because lions and

hyenas both allowing scavenging quite a

lot in my diet when they hear this tape

a lot of them will come in and they'll

investigate it thinking they're going to

get a free meal

it was amazing where they come from they

just kind of melt out from the bushes in

places you'd never have imagined a lion

could have hidden often quite close to

where I was doing the calling and then

it was equally amazing

once the calling is over once they

decide to go back undercover usually

about the time that the Masai started to

go after the bomas around 7 o'clock

again the Lions will melt straight back

into the bushes woman at the lines there

next minute it's gone completely and I

know it must be sitting there somewhere

and they're so hard to find again

the ultra sensitive camera is many times

more powerful and Tom's military scope

inside the zone getting you can drive

around and you can see painters and

lines that they're very obvious

throughout the day outside the National

Park that doesn't happen you can drive

around for days and days and not see any

the fact that there are any lines at all

on the MER sized land is surprising so

far I'm finding an extremely high number

of lines outside the park in fact it's

comparable to certain areas within the

park so lines are actually doing

extremely well in an area where people

are living and working and grazing their

cattle which to me was extremely

surprising hyenas are also extremely

common compared to inside the park there

were fewer but there are still a sizable

number thriving outside the park and you

will actually see them when you drive

around in the evening the hyenas are

usually pretty visible

no wonder the Masai report meeting wild

animals frequently even by day another

worker on the night shift is Paula white

she's interested in studying hyenas in

this different world to learn how they

and the Lions carve up each other's

catches and like her quarry she follows

her ears

I'm going out to see if I can find some

pana kills take a look at how many fair

members around the deal whether another

many clashes going on

I'll also be looking for laying hyena

interactions because I'm really

interested in and how the

in Iraq down here with all the game

present whether or not they still more

likely to steal each other's kills or

whether they're more likely to go after

a new

so what I'd be doing is driving the

roads looking for action and then I'd

stop once in a while and listen for

sounds

sounds travel much further in the cool

night air

on a still night hyenas can hear woopa

over 10 kilometers away

I think lions too are attracted to that

sound and a number of other groans and

squeals that usually accompany a hyena

kelex are really exciting see there's a

hyena running in front of me on the road

right now and the way he's running I

imagine he's going for a kill so I'm

gonna stop and listen what Poehler and

Tamas seeing leads them to rethink the

conventional ideas about hyenas and

lions at night and day the Serengeti is

two top predators both on zebra

wildebeest and gazelle it's a mystery

how they survive when they appear to

compete for the same prey usually in

nature to competitors carved share the

same food supplied there simply isn't

enough for the road

yet they both thrive and although lions

and hyenas share the same diet the two

animals are very different the one thing

they have in common is that their

societies revolve around the females

among cats lions are unique in the way

they live together most cats are

solitary lions form small groups prides

at the heart of each pride are relations

sisters cousins and adults strange

lionesses in their cubs will be attacked

they cooperate to raise Cubs lionesses

will even suckle Cubs of other pride

members

in a lion pride any female leader will

have earned her place and like hyenas

where leadership is largely inherited

at times the males are absent at others

they hang out with the females at times

they're peaceable even tender at others

aggressive to all in spite of their

smaller size lioness is not only

retaliate

they may even pick fights with the males

however male lions are physically more

powerful in a test of strength over a

kill the female will come off worse

spotted hyenas live in large clouds

averaging 50 or more members but the

whole clan is not always together

individuals and small hunting groups

spread out over the plains in a living

net in the Serengeti hyenas usually make

dens in abandoned burrows here the Cubs

are easily hidden from lions and other

predators litters are small only one or

two hyena society is maintained by the

rank that each animal inherits if mom is

high-ranking they'll be high-ranking to

provided they've inherited her strength

as well females may fight females but

males hardly ever fight amongst

themselves and certainly wouldn't dare

attack a female clan life is ruled by

the females who are almost a quarter

bigger than the males

the Cubs fight in their first days of

life but once they know that place

they're far more likely to play together

than to scratch

the male's can behave as best friends

even if they're members of different

clans hyenas behavior is highly complex

from weaning to fighting much of what

hyenas do still remains to be studied by

scientists nonetheless the most marked

difference between hyenas and lions is

in how they hunt all animals built for

the kill

hunt in the same basic sequence they

begin by finding their victims

next they single out a target by

scanning the herd later will come the

approach then the contact finally the

meal how they hunt differs sharply

between hyena and lion the hyenas get as

close as 20 meters in full view of their

prey before the herd wheels and flees

the Hina's will try to scatter the ville

de Beast before singling one out the MER

cycle the hyenas

doctors but as they can recognize the

sick and the weak

they run down their prey like wolves

hyenas are endurance hunters chases can

last up to five kilometres at full speed

lions can't sustain this they are

sprinters after the rainy season much of

the Serengeti National Park is a sea of

long grass the Lions use it to mask

their presence they approach unseen by

careful stalking or occasionally by

lying in ambush

ah

outside the park where the Masai graze

their cattle the grass is shorter any

predator risks a confrontation and hurt

the Lions sticks out not much chance of

an ambush here hunting and the cover of

night makes more sense as the Sun Goes

Down life gets easier for the Serengeti

predators dusk diminishes to near

complete darkness which can continue all

night if there are storm clouds or if

it's a moonless night the only camera on

the planet powerful enough to see in

total blackness even picks up stars

invisible to human eyes

suddenly the landscape is illuminated as

if by searchlight even so humans can

still only just pick out shapes but to

the grazing animals it's as clear as day

the camera revealed crouching Lions

invisible to the naked human eye

a night ambush could prove more

successful these two lionesses have

detected a herd of wildebeest crossing a

track when the moon is up the Lions are

limited to the techniques they use by

day stalking and ambushing but it won't

always be so right

the pair near the crossing plant and

squat down

well screened by vegetation one crawls

into position to jump a victim a quick -

and it's soon over

although these lionesses have been

successful the moonlit night is really

the best time for hyenas - and the cool

of the night air allows them to keep on

running something the easily tired lions

cannot do

hyenas behavior at night is something

scientists are increasingly able to

observe the results I think I can hear a

kill off in the distance so I'm going to

go in that direction it sounds like

there's lions coming in as well polar

white night-vision goggles work because

they and the camera see in the special

infrared headlights of her land Rove

I think the ability to use this sort of

invisible light to observe animals

nocturnal animals in their natural

environment is is really quite a

breakthrough for research certainly I

didn't begin to see the full range of

hyena behaviors instilling until I

started coming out at night and using

the certain special equipment

it was very frustrating to me otherwise

because as dusk was falling and my own

ability to to observe them was no ending

I knew that the hyenas were just

beginning to wake up and just beginning

to you know start their day as it were

but I was left out of it so now as I'm

able to follow them and observe them I'm

seeing things that I've never been able

to see before

now Paula can see in the dark but it's

her hearing that guides her you often

hear hyenas whooping at night and that

can be any number of things they're

advertising their own location they're

trying to find clan other clan members

but the one sound that you really

associate with a kill is a giggle and

actually definitely where the term

laughing hang it came from but that's

the sound I really associate with kills

and the thing that other hyenas and

lions hone in on as well so really

driving around like this at night using

this enhanced vision and listening for

kills up I'm behaving very much like a

hyena and then there's one right now I

can see it going through the grassland

hyenas jaws are among the most powerful

of any animal species the sharp front

teeth shear through skin and meat their

jaw muscles are as big as a man's arm at

the back of the hyenas mouth huge

crushing teeth are strong enough to

crunch up solid bone yet it's a

remarkably peaceful scene male hyenas

are nature's gentlemen when it comes to

sharing a kill with their clan although

the hyenas gulped down their meal Lions

arrive in time to take the food from

their mouths

the camera unveils a night world full of

animal life just how close these animals

come to humans astonishes the

researchers

I found a cheater quite late in the

evening sometimes the the male cheaters

will stay active quite a long time into

the night and so I was following him it

went past dark it was about half past 7

8 o'clock in the evening and he was

walking straight up the road straight

towards a masai village and I thought

this was going to be fantastic I was

going to see how close cheaters would

get to masai villages and suddenly went

leaping off the road and onto the road

stepped faultlines

I then carried on following them instead

and they went almost within sight of the

village the village was just over the

next hill

Lions will even break into Maasai

villages in an attempt to reach the

cattle inside the Messiah mount a

defense but it's dangerous the balance

of power has switched the nocturnal

hunters are in their element there are

burglars about the guard dog is aware of

the hyena but the Masai will register

its shape only dimly

the men must rely on tracks to point

them in the right direction

you

during the attack a cow was killed and

dragged off the following morning the

mass I inspect the corpse they can

easily identify the cause of death

ringing the neck a distinctive punctures

the suffocating bite of a lion the

culprit also mauled a warrior the wounds

could quickly become infected the tribal

doctor cleans the site thoroughly

without anaesthetic the Maasai prized

suffering without complaint above all

the Lyons assault will trigger a deadly

search

Masai warriors respond to the alarm

the young unmarried man gathered this is

what they've been training for four

years

it's the supreme test of their stamina

and self-control and a test of our

ability to bear power without flinching

this is what they've been waiting for

for just such a chase success will give

them a passport to adulthood the chance

to find a good life failure will mark

them for the rest of their lives but

before they can take part they need to

demonstrate their fitness the elders

will decide who will and won't go

the warrior group arrives at the

settlement where the cow was taken each

warrior wields a long bladed spear they

are also armed with short double-edged

sword and lethal clubs they're all

experts in the use of these weapons

against animals as well as people in

many areas the Warriors and our clothes

but in this part of the Serengeti their

ceremonies are tolerated lion hunting by

the Maasai is illegal but these Warriors

are so far from the towns they are

generally allowed to continue a day of

ritual begins with chanting and dancing

to hypnotic rhythms warriors demonstrate

their strength and agility by leaping

fueled by intoxicating herbal drinks

they danced into the night

more warriors arrived from further

afield eager to be selected everyone is

in a frenzy of anticipation on a limb

because a village elder addresses the

Warriors he Sobers them by reminding

them of the dangers ahead he tells them

to work together to trust each other and

to return safely

then he urges them to enjoy the party it

could be their last

Wow

in the morning two hunts unfold far

apart a lone lioness spies out to water

animal or human hunters face mortal

danger in the coming hours

four lions daytime hunts are the most

difficult for filmmakers this is when

it's easiest to film so this is the

image that's so often repeated prey

unaware of the lioness hidden in the

grass

the hunters head for the place where a

lioness was seen recently the one they

believe killed the cow

the herds are busy drinking

zebras have keen sight they're bulging

eyes give a wide-angle view of danger

Lions hate and fear aside the bells

around the Warriors ankles make it clear

to any lions they're coming the Lions on

mass island will always hide indeed come

the Warriors must flush the beasts out

into the open then they have a chance to

tire it out before they come in with

their spears the lioness edges closer

the Warriors search may last all they're

covering up to 40 kilometers

the lionesses prey is within 30 meters

I know

they think it's all over the Warriors

head back empty-handed

the lioness returns to collect the cub

she left earlier she hid it in long

grass nearby but the chaos of her hunt

has attracted members of another pride

this is their patch and they'll defend

it the mother calls to the youngster to

other lionesses reach the cub first

they won't tolerate another females

offspring they'll eliminate

this is not about hunger the corpse is

left to the vultures and hyenas the

mother's life too is under threat she's

no relation

the pride will kill her she stays

I've numbered without a territory of her

own she heads yet further away from the

park when Lions roam there at risk and

so are their pursuers what you're about

to see has never been shown before a

tourists camera videos the end of a hunt

a lion is cornered there seems nowhere a

warrior throws a spear the tables are

truly turned teeth and claws strike home

the wounded warrior continues believing

the lioness chose him as the weakest to

overcome his shame he needs to finish

her off

but even warrior pride cannot prevent

the injured man collapsing into shock

meanwhile the lioness dies of her wounds

she's wearing a radio collar a park lion

two different worlds clash the mass I

collected trophy the scientists collect

data each sees the lion in a different

light

it's it's not a romantic we like to live

with a wildlife kind of situation but

they never do something to the extent

that if I look if a line is being a

problem they don't go out and try and

kill every single line that they can

find in the entire area I have great

respect for them fur for tolerating

insistence to such a great degree in

truth the Warriors have made a lethal

mistake

the wrong lion has paid the price and

the outcome is nearly fatal for one

Masari

were he to die on the spot they would

give him a warrior's right and leave his

bones to the night and the hyenas

night is the time of the four footed

hunters most hours are clouded over or

feebly lit by faint stars

on moonless nights the mass I only lead

the safety of their bomas in groups but

there is no safety in numbers now for

the grazers of the plains the darkest

hours of the night see Restless action

animal hunters are about in numbers

never seen during the day spooked the

herds of wildebeest zebra and gazelle

burst into panicky runs they fear lions

and hyenas are nearby but only the

camera can see

not only the zebra are uneasy a clan of

hyenas is also on edge they've made a

kill in another clans territory it isn't

long before one of the owners claims his

rights he calls for support from the

other residence his clan bustles in to

drive the invaders away they built the

meet while they can other threats may

arrive to challenge them in turn they

remain watchful this is truly fast food

the invaders will be back to recapture

their meat you can see this clearly in

infrared light but how did the animals

see in these conditions like all the

animals here their eyes appear to glow a

mirror-like membrane doubles the

available light then their brains

enhance the images filling in the gaps

to see detail more clearly

the newcomers soon returned in force the

prize sea soars between them until it's

all gone but with so little light even

their superb night vision is challenged

this is as close as you can get to

seeing through their eyes it gives an

idea of how they can operate in this

dark world

the lions and hyenas continue their

battles as if unhindered by the darkness

once again the Lions have stolen the

hyenas kill but they all appear to be

able to see exactly what's going on

and when the Lions go hunting they do so

just as they are they wander off in the

general direction of the sound of herds

of animals to the Lions the herds are

almost invisible at any distance just

dull grey smears but they can locate the

grazers easily by sound and smell night

is the only time that Lions can approach

undetected here on the short grass

plains you are about to see for the

first time how and when the Lions of the

Serengeti catch most of their food itami

dips his head to see whether or not he

can see danger silhouetted against the

sky

the circling line is almost invisible

bathed in infrared light it stands out

another Tommy can hear something and his

off

the Lions game plan is always the same

get close to the herds then spread out

they don't need to make any effort to

hide themselves only their footfalls

give them away and because they're

unseen lions are no longer at a

disadvantage as they approach their

quarry

two young males take a smaller zebra

with ease a lioness is chase a high kick

let her quarry escape soon - Lions bring

down a fine stallion saber sharp teeth

and meathook claws bury themselves into

300 kilos of struggle

one lion grips the throat in a

stranglehold the other prepares to feed

their ability to keep a grip on their

prey and pitch darkness makes the kill

possible everything the camera has

disclosed comes together the apparent

competitors for the same food survived

because there are times when one is more

successful than the other the animals

hunt in different ways by day and by

night and in differing light these

unique images show that the relationship

between lions and hyenas is more complex

than traditional pictures allow the

Lions steal kills and the so called

cowardly hyenas are often merely add to

reclaim their prey

don't say you've never seen a brave

hyena a thieving male lion is forced to

take through the hyenas persist even

though a single blow could be Freddie

his frequent nighttime behaviour never

been recorded before there's much more

going on in the dark than people have

realized and there must be many more

secrets still to be revealed adorn the

Masai dismantled the thorns barricading

the entries to their bohmers no lions or

hyenas are to be seen outside the

killing fields of the night are

transformed into places where cattle may

safely graze by day everything is in the

Messiah's Babel the cool of night and

the light of the moon are ideal

conditions for the hyena a long-distance

runner but the darkest nights belong to

Lions which can rely on built-in weapons

and brute force the truer picture that

has emerged applies by day as well

hyenas can kill when lions are too

conspicuous and it's the Lions that are

the scavengers in the end they don't so

much compete as coexist hunting in

different ways and at different times

in the centuries of the murse I have

dwelt on the plains they too have found

a way of treading lightly on the land

now droughts and overpopulation bring

challenges to their old ways

within a decade this cattle pasture will

be covered with crops predators and

herds will be gone only preserved in the

zoo like National Park

the Warriors will step back into history

their culture bartered for bid parks in

conservation and tourism

if the murse I have a vital lesson to

teach it is that Lions give meaning and

purpose to their lives worthy

adversaries for warriors

their spears are already being beaten

into plowshares a patchwork of fields is

appearing soon fences will spring up

nature's carefully crafted balance of

power will be upset animals and people

in conflict the picture that emerges

maybe starker but it is more realistic

and never again will you be taken in by

that will groomed imposter posing as the

king of the beasts

you