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There are three key questions in nature:

Who's bigger than me?

Official YIFY movies site: YTS.MX

Who's fiercer than me?

Who's more dangerous than me?

The bottom line: Who wants a piece of me?

Or whom do I want a piece of?

North America boasts some of the most fearsome predators on the planet...

and some of nature's greatest beauty.

But who's the meanest?

Who's the prettiest?

Whom do you most want to see if you dare to get close?

It's time to crown...

America's greatest animals.

Our journey begins high in the Rocky Mountains,

where there's an animal so elusive he's rarely seen by humans.

But his thunderclap echoes across the canyons...

Nature's super-collider:

The bighorn sheep.

This ram weighs almost 140 kilos.

That's about the same size as a large domestic sheep.

But he's a lot more powerful!

He's one of America's most imposing animals.

Africa has a name for its greatest beasts...

they call them the Big Five:

Elephant.

Rhino.

Leopard.

Cape buffalo.

Lion.

Africa's Big Five are the biggest,

baddest animals in all of Africa.

The meanest, gnarliest animals on the continent.

But you don't have to go to Africa for stunning wildlife.

America's mega fauna can hold their own against these guys.

Africa has their Big Five.

But what about North America?

Man, you're not going to short change us.

We've got plenty of animals.

We need our own Big Five!

But who will make the grade?

We'll score America's animals on the same criteria that impressed

the first explorers to Africa:

How powerful are they?

What amazing features set them apart?

Are they dangerous?

And do they have charisma?

How badly do you want to see them in the wild?

Each animal can score a maximum of 20 points.

Four of National Geographic's homegrown experts will weigh in

on who should make the list.

Let him roll...

Scientist Brady Barr has wrangled some of the planets

most dangerous predators.

Go forward, go forward!

Wildlife cameraman Andy Casagrande has filmed all of Africa's Big Five.

Stop, stop, stop.

Primatologist Mireya Mayor fights to protect some of

the world's most endangered species.

Where Kinga wants to go, he goes and we get out of the way.

Oh, boy, let's show them how big you are.

And naturalist Casey Anderson has a pretty unique

relationship with America's wildlife.

That was big. Give me a high-five. Good boy!

The big difference between Africa's Big Five and

North America's Big Five is the habitat.

You know, when you think Africa and the Big Five,

it's pretty simple-they all live in the grasslands.

But America's greatest wildlife is to be found across our entire continent.

So in the quest to name the best,

we'll carve up the continent into four main regions:

mountains...

prairies...

forests..

And Arctic.

The competition begins in the mountains,

where the bighorns are getting down to business.

It's fall in the Rockies.

Time for football season, bighorn style.

As the temperature plummets, bighorns get ready to scrimmage...

while the ewes watch from the bleachers.

Sometimes I've gone to great lengths just to pick up

a girl, but these guys?

They take it to a whole other level.

Skull crushes skull with the power of a sledge hammer.

The rams are battling for dominance and the right to breed.

They're like the ultimate linebacker.

Boom!

The bighorn's helmet weighs 14 kilos and measures

a meter around.

And they don't get to shed their horns like elk get

to shed their antlers, or moose.

They have to pack 'em around all year long.

And I carry big backpacks,

but I even like to take it off once in a while.

So, they're pretty bad ass.

The bighorn's thick, double-layered skull is reinforced

with a honeycomb of cross struts to absorb the shock...

shielding their brain from a lifetime of concussions.

When a ram's ready to challenge a rival,

he says so in no uncertain terms.

Occasionally there's a low-blow,

where they will throw a hoof out and hit the other one in the testicles.

Really?

They kick each other in the balls?

Dude!

Ouch.

That's just uncalled for.

But don't expect a front row seat at the stadium,

this charismatic athlete is very hard to find.

He's usually perched half way up a cliff.

Despite his hefty size, he can walk on only five centimeters of ledge.

A sharp outer edge on the hoof cuts into rock like a fingernail,

while an inner elastic pad grips to granite like glue.

A bighorn can scale a cliff wall at 7 meters per second...

fast enough to summit Grand Teton in ten minutes!

So how does the bighorn rate among America's greatest animals?

Measurement one: power.

That head gear delivers one mean punch,

earning it four points out of five.

Measurement two: what amazing features does it have?

From the horns to the hooves, there's no denying

his impressive toolkit.

Five out of five.

Next: danger to humans.

Fortunately, humans aren't on the receiving end of this arsenal.

Only two points for danger.

Finally, charisma.

I mean, look at these guys.

They've got these huge spiraling horns on their head;

it's like Princess Leia on steroids.

Three points for charisma.

The bighorn earns 14 points out of a possible 20.

Not bad, but is it enough to be considered one of America's five greatest animals?

Our next contender is a bit more fierce...

he's got teeth... and claws.

Enter Ursus arctos horribilis... the grizzly.

A lumbering giant with the speed of a thoroughbred.

The elk calf is an easy kill for this 180-kilo mother bear.

The cub's father was probably twice her size.

From head to tail, a fully grown male can be two and a half meters long and

one and a half meters high at the shoulder.

And the grizzlies on Kodiak Island in Alaska are even bigger than that.

Weighing 450 kilograms,

they're the largest predators on land.

The one thing that's interesting about a grizzly is

it could literally stand up and look into a second story window.

They're huge.

Giant hands, broad shoulders, huge head.

One of the most dangerous predators on the planet.

These bears patrol America's mountains up to an astonishing 5,000 meters.

Among Africa's Big Five, the largest predator is the lion.

America's grizzly dwarfs these kitties.

And there's one thing grizzlies must contend with in the

mountains that lions never need worry about... the weather!

Winter in the Rockies is no picnic.

Food is scarce.

But it's this bear's lucky day.

He's found a dead bison that's fallen through the ice.

It's a feast that will last for days, if he can get it out.

The waterlogged bison probably weighs twice as much as the bear.

Only a grizzly has the brute strength and power to even attempt this.

A grizzly's power comes from its hump.

Between the shoulders, a large mass of muscle gives it this distinctive bump.

It's a feature that clearly distinguishes the grizzly from it's smaller cousin,

the black bear.

When it comes to food, the grizzly is a jack of all trades...

hunter, fisherman, scavenger, vegetarian.

Their giant claws aren't for tearing flesh...

they've got teeth for that.

The claws are used for digging up tasty roots.

And double as chopsticks when it's sushi time.

But a grizzly's greatest asset is perched right in front of its face...

its nose... a nose unlike any other in the world.

A grizzly's sense of smell is believed to be 2000 times more acute than our own!

If you took a jar of peanut butter and put it

three kilometers away, a grizzly bear can smell it.

An impressive boast that'll earn it plenty of points

in our competition.

So does the grizzly make America's Big Five?

I mean, with an arsenal of weapons that the grizzly bear has,

its size, its strength, its speed, its teeth,

its claws, there's no way it can't be in the Big Five.

It's time to grade the grizzly.

Measurement one: power.

With its phenomenal strength, the grizzly gets five out of five.

Measurement two: amazing features that set it apart.

Grizzlies have speed, strength, size and smell...

four out of five.

Next, danger to humans.

This is real.

Female grizzlies will viciously defend their cubs and they kill

at least two people in the wild every year.

Five points.

Finally, charisma.

Seeing a grizzly in the wild is always a thrill.

Four more points.

The grizzly's won 18 out of 20.

Four more than the bighorn.

But there's one more contender in the mountains...

one you'll rarely get to see.

The search for America's greatest animals continues in the mountains.

Our next contender hides in the shadows,

waiting to pounce...

the mountain lion.

You know they're out there, but you never see them.

You could walk right by one and it could be right over

your shoulder looking at you, and you'd never even know.

Oh, my God...!

Are you getting it?

Yes. Oh, my God.

These tourists have stumbled upon a remarkable scene,

a mountain lion with a deer caught in a deadly attack.

It just pounced out of there.

Few people have ever witnessed a mountain lion kill in the wild.

The cat locks its jaws around the deer's throat to asphyxiate its prey.

This is amazing.

Oh, my God. They don't even care we're here.

I'm sure the deer does!

Not one for the limelight,

the lion takes this meal to go.

Wow, that was quick.

Mountain lion, cougar, panther, puma...

more than 80 names describe this charismatic contender.

Mountain lions are awesome.

These guys are incredibly diverse predators.

They not only eat birds and rabbits,

but they can also take down things that are five times their size.

That is epic.

It's the widest roaming mammal in the New World...

found from northern Canada to southern Chile...

From sea level up to the highest mountain slopes...

a diversity in range no African cat can match.

The two cats in Africa's Big Five belong to the Pantherinae subfamily,

The roaring cats.

But America's mountain lion is feline.

Like the cheetah and domestic cat, it purrs, not roars.

The secretive mountain lion is very hard to find.

And, when one does appear, it's headline news.

Here in Jackson, Wyoming a mother has established her den

within clear view of the road.

It's a rare opportunity to witness her rambunctious cubs

practice their skills.

The mountain lion's body is perfectly designed for one thing...

the kill.

Two and a half meters long, nose to tail, weighing nearly 90 kilos,

she stalks silently through the trees...

then gets ready to pounce!

Powerful muscles propel the cat to short bursts of speed,

covering 14 meters in a single bound,

jumping five and a half meters straight up in the air.

With an 80% success rate, it's a hunter who rarely misses a kill.

Roar.

It's ranking time.

Measurement one: power.

The lion is our smallest contender so far,

but still has the power to kill bighorn and elk.

Three out of five.

Next: amazing features that set it apart.

Mountain lions are impressive, but not unique, every cat has a

similar arsenal of speed, agility, claws and canines.

Three points again.

Measurement three: danger to humans.

Where suburbs spread into lion habitat,

attacks are on the rise.

Every couple of years, one will be fatal.

Four points.

Finally: charisma.

There's a certain majesty to America's lion,

and a glimpse of this magnificent creature in the wild

is worthy of three points.

13 in total.

A healthy score, but not the most impressive beast in the mountains.

That honor goes to the grizzly.

And there's a chance to take a much closer look at this winner,

by joining some scientists in northwest Montana.

They're radio tagging females in order to see whether numbers are going up or down.

Or maybe right up there? I don't know.

They've got one caught in a baited snare.

It's okay, bud, it's okay.

Nice shot!

She's a very healthy bear.

You guys can come on up.

Covering her eyes reduces the stress of capture.

Everyone take a deep breath, deep breath.

Okay, ready?

One, two, three...

This young female already weighs more than 160 kilos.

She'll pack on another 35 before winter.

A close examination reveals she's not alone.

This is her teat right here.

Normally, this would be all haired up just like here if she didn't have cubs...

so what you want to do is you kind of

just grab it and basically we're milking it out.

And there you can see that's milk right there.

So I think she's probably got at least a couple of cubs someplace right here.

This capture foot looks good.

It's just slightly swollen.

They remove the snare, taking care to avoid her

incredible claws.

They're as long as human fingers, and far more lethal.

The radio collar will transmit the female's location,

enabling the scientists to follow her progress with her cubs.

In two years, the collar will automatically fall off.

By then, these scientists will have a much clearer picture of

how well grizzlies are faring in this wilderness.

With the blindfold removed, the bear is almost good to go.

But not before she gets a quick dental check up.

She has some wear on her front teeth.

So I would say she's probably around 12 years old.

At the back of her mouth,

giant molars can grind roots and seeds.

At the front, dagger-like canines for when meat's on the menu...

meaning nature has prepared her for every contingency.

So the grizzly claims the mountain spot among America's greatest animals.

Now it's time to descend from the mountains to the open plains below...

in search of our next contenders.

Here, giant grazers mow the continent's lawn,

and predators thrive on the moveable feast.

This elk is in danger.

Her young calf has attracted the attention of two wolves.

Out on the prairie,

predators are always on the lookout for easy prey.

This elk calf is barely on its feet and isn't quite ready to run for its life.

But a mother elk has the heart of a lion.

She's about to demonstrate why the elk is a worthy contender

for America's Big Five.

This is much more than just pretty deer.

In a remarkable display of bravery,

she diverts attention away from her calf by heading straight for the wolves,

goading them to chase her instead.

Several times she allows the wolves to chase her,

then retreats to the water.

Her bold strategy is to lead the predators on,

then surprise them with a counter attack.

They're ornery.

They don't give up easy, and they fight back.

Finally, the wolves give up.

And mom washes away the fear.

Elk are not wimpy.

The face grizzlies, mountain lions and wolves on a daily basis.

And they have these huge antlers and they're not afraid to use them.

Once a year, male elk must face even more intimidating foes...

each other.

It's rutting season.

Bulls prepare to battle for breeding rights.

Armed with thorny crowns, the red-blooded males

advertise their wares to the females.

This is bugling.

Sounds like a chalkboard being butchered by another chalkboard.

This distinctive sound carries a message that's loud and clear.

Using all the power they can muster,

each bull tries to dominate the other.

Imagine a field full of women and two guys fighting for them,

but now you've given them giant swords and a lot of testosterone,

and what you've got is one bloody battle.

A successful male can win a harem of 20 females.

But there's a trade off, his efforts clashing and coupling

cost him 90 kilos during the rut.

Mature bulls look fantastic, but in rutting season,

they are not to be messed with.

The Canadian town of Banff is located in the heart of elk country.

Males primed for a fight parade down Main Street.

Here, two rivals battle it out in the playground.

There you go, now he's loose.

His leg's broke!

A broken leg means this time it's a fight to the death.

So how does this gladiator hold up?

Let's score the elk.

First up: power.

Elk are pretty fierce for deer, but they don't pack as much

punch as bighorn sheep.

Two points.

Next: amazing and unusual features.

It's a splendid animal, but there's little to distinguish

it from other large deer.

Two more points.

Measurement three: danger to humans.

In rutting season, that crown of antlers is a force to be reckoned with.

Three points.

Finally: charisma.

Many a trophy hunter has trekked through the wilderness

in pursuit of a giant bull.

Three more points.

Giving our first prairie contender a total of ten.

There are few patches of natural prairie left in North America,

most have been plowed over.

But in its day, America's Serengeti would have rivaled

anything Africa has to offer, with one creature in particular

dominating the landscape.

The "thunder beast", the largest land mammal in America.

This is a brute.

Shaggy, up front, sporting a beard, clean shaven in the back.

It's almost like a reverse mullet.

Here's an animal who's survived the Ice Age and is

still sticking around and kicking butt.

This six-year-old bull is a beast.

He's three and a half meters long, nearly two meters tall at the shoulder...

and he probably weighs more than a ton.

He can easily hold his own against Africa's cape buffalo.

Just 200 years ago,

50 million of these behemoths blanketed the prairie.

I love reading the journals of Lewis and Clark,

where they would write that they'd see a herd of bison and

it would take three days for the entire herd to pass them by.

Basically like a black tide of hooves and fur and,

you know, testosterone.

But those days are a distant memory.

Bison were hunted almost to oblivion.

Many generations have passed since the bison almost disappeared.

A prairie without bison is like sleep without dreams.

They are the keystone species, nourishing every level of the

food chain from fertile grasses to salivating predators.

Today, some 10,000 bison once again roam wild and free.

It's a fraction of their former numbers, but it's a start.

This herd has an intruder in its midst.

The wily coyote has a taste for tender calf.

But the youngster, while a little slow to react,

can take care of himself.

Finally, mom steps in.

And few predators are foolish enough to tackle an adult bison.

Bison definitely have attitude,

and certainly the power to back it up.

And they know it.

They walk around slow, and everything gets out of their way,

and if you don't get out of their way, you're getting flung.

In the middle of summer,

bison bulls display their immense power and strength.

It's breeding season.

The bigger the bull, the deeper the bellow.

Males engage in fierce, head-to-head combat.

Their skulls are padded with thick matted fur to absorb the collisions.

The battle won, this male tends to a female for several days

until she's ready to mate.

Nine months later, a new generation arrives.

So how do bison stand up to the competition?

On power.

There's no contest.

Bison are brutes.

Five out of five.

Measurement two: what amazing feature sets them apart?

The millions of bison that once roamed America formed

the biggest herd of large animals ever thought to have existed on the planet.

Four points.

Next: danger to humans.

Beware of these colossal herbivores.

Every year in Yellowstone,

more humans are injured or killed by bison than by bears.

Four again.

Finally: charisma.

As the buffalo nickel confirmed, bison are money,

a true icon of the continent, worthy of five points.

The total?

18... eight more than the elk.

While bison dominate the plains with brute strength,

others follow a different path.

The next contender cuts through the prairie like an arrow.

Blink and you'll miss it.

Meet the fastest land animal in the Americas: the pronghorn.

It's springtime, and the pronghorns are on the move.

Rising temperatures and longer days set the herd in motion,

as they head for summer pastures.

This pronghorn might lack the charisma of the bison or the bear,

but it's got plenty of other features that make it stand out.

The pronghorn is neither antelope nor deer,

it's in a class of its own.

True antelope have un-branched horns that are permanent,

whereas deer have branched antlers that shed and re-grow each year.

But the pronghorn is somewhere in the middle:

it has a branched horn,

with an outer layer that sheds.

As their migration gets underway,

the pronghorns reveal their greatest asset: speed.

It can run the length of a football field in three and a half seconds flat.

That's fast.

That's nearly 100 kilometers per hour,

certainly worthy of contention among America's greatest animals.

Capable of sustaining top speeds for several kilometers,

they can easily out run any predator America has to offer.

The only opponent worthy of a race... Africa's cheetah.

Now the cheetah in Africa may beat it,

but the cheetah is only good for short bursts.

Man, the pronghorn, he's good for the long haul.

I'm taking endurance over short burst of speed any day.

America had its own cheetah once.

But since it became extinct 13,000 years ago,

pronghorns have torn across the prairie unchallenged.

All those ancient predators, gone.

The pronghorn?

Still the fastest land mammal in all of the Americas, hands down.

Today, this tiny band of 200 is the only herd that

still follows its original migration route.

Every year, they trek nearly 200 kilometers from wintering grounds in southern

Wyoming to summer pasture in Grand Teton National Park.

200 kilometers might not sound like much,

but for these animals, it's a perilous obstacle course that

claims many lives.

A ribbon of asphalt is a deadly barrier.

Every year, instinct drives the pronghorns north on

their migration towards summer pastures.

It's a journey fraught with danger.

Wire fences criss-cross the grasslands.

Some will find a way under.

Others go over.

The potentially lethal hurdles stretch for many kilometers.

But never underestimate the resilience of America's pronghorn.

Manmade barriers eventually give way to nature's course.

And finally they reach their refuge:

Grand Teton National Park.

Here in the high pastures, they roam free,

and life begins anew.

So how does the pronghorn rate in our quest to select

America's Big Five?

Measurement one: power.

Pronghorns are peerless athletes,

but of delicate form,

only one out of five for power.

It's like a Ferrari. Can't put 'em on a dirt road.

Measurement two: what unique features set them apart?

Pronghorns have two things going for them:

their branched horn is the only one in the animal kingdom,

and they're the fastest land animal in America.

Definitely worthy of a four.

Measurement three: danger to humans.

Well, not much you can say, really.

One look at us and they'll sprint the other way.

Another one.

Finally: charisma.

Pronghorns are beautiful and know how to strike a pose.

But they're rarely the animal you're dying to see on safari.

A two.

It's a paltry total of eight.

No doubt pronghorns are remarkable creatures,

but not big or scary enough to contend for America's top five.

So among the prairie contenders so far only bison seem to have what it takes.

But bison, elk and pronghorn are all herbivores.

So who's eating all the meat?

This guy.

The handsome black wolf is the alpha male of his pack in

Yellowstone National Park.

And he's hungry.

Wolves are Mother Nature's strike force,

brandishing the ferocious weapons of a predator.

But it's the collective brainpower of the pack that

really sets them apart.

And they have plenty of other features that'll earn them points.

The wolf's keen sense of smell detects prey

from more than three kilometers away.

But he'll hear you coming long before he smells you.

Up close, the wolves weed out the sick and the injured

to make for an easier meal.

But wolves also have incredible stamina that enables them

to pursue their prey over several kilometers if need be.

In winter, their large feet keep them on the snow's surface,

with each hind foot falling exactly into the print of the foot in front,

a technique called double registering.

Powerful jaw muscles give them the strength of a vise.

They have an amazingly strong power-packed bite.

1500 pounds per square inch is what their bite force reads.

That is unreal.

That's a serious bite.

Canine teeth two and a half centimeters long tear a carcass to shreds.

Africa's Big Five features a predator with a similar hunting strategy:

the lion.

Both carnivores hunt in groups, attack from behind,

and finally, as a group, overwhelm their prey.

But there's a big difference in the art of their kill.

Lions are ambush predators,

exploiting the element of surprise.

Wolves are far more brash.

They don't need that little secret ambush.

They just jump right out in daylight, full force,

and take their prey.

With giant carnassial teeth for slicing meat and

molars that can crush bones, nothing goes to waste.

A wolf pack's territory can span hundreds of square kilometers.

And, when strangers enter their domain,

they will defend their territory to the death.

The black wolf and his pack win the day.

For now they hold their ground, safe in the knowledge that a new

generation of reinforcements is on its way.

Wolves have returned to our wilderness,

and the soundtrack of the West is silent no more.

So how does this predator do in our Big Five challenge?

I love wolves.

I mean, I think that wolves have to make the Big Five.

Measurement one: power.

Wolves have powerful jaws, but must rely on strength in numbers

to bring down substantial prey.

They get a three.

Measurement two: unique features.

They have incredible stamina,

unrivaled hearing and phenomenal teeth,

earning four points.

Measurement three: danger to humans.

While you and I are not on the regular menu,

there have been a few unfortunate souls who've fallen prey.

Another four.

Finally, charisma.

Whether you love them or hate them,

wolves elicit powerful emotions in all of us.

Five out of five.

The wolf made an impressive showing with 16 out of 20,

But the bison was the clear winner, with 18 points.

Very few bison currently roaming the prairies are the real deal.

Most of them, wild or captive, aren't full-blooded,

they've been cross-bred with cattle.

Only a tiny handful of purebreds remain...

here in northeast Montana.

Biologists at the American Prairie Foundation are working

to restore our grasslands to their former glory by

re-introducing this 100% pure strain of bison.

Beautiful.

I can't believe that actually worked.

But not everyone's cooperating.

This big bull isn't ready to climb on board.

A veterinarian must sedate him...

creating a new problem...

how to move this one ton beast?

Alright, you're good!

Time for a sleigh ride Montana style.

Here comes the bump.

It's not often you get to snuggle up with a bison,

but the chance reveals just how well adapted they are for

winters on the prairie.

I can bury my hand almost in his hair here,

in his hide, both these guard hairs and then his underfur.

And in the wintertime, 40 below and wind, this

no effect on him.

Bison are nothing if not tenacious...

stubbornly withstanding the harshest winters America has to offer.

And their enormous skull works wonders as a fur-lined snow shovel,

digging deep in search of a meal.

Tomorrow, this prize bull will lead his herd out onto the plain.

One by one, these pure-bred bison will reclaim their

rightful place on our prairie.

They're the heart and soul of America's grasslands.

And gradually, they're coming home.

It's time to move the competition from the prairies to the forest.

Up in the canopy, a new home is taking shape.

It's a mansion.

Four meters deep, two and a half meters wide and weighing a ton,

the bald eagle's nest is bigger than any other bird's in North America.

But when you're the national icon, what do you expect?

America's eagle has plenty of features earning it points in our contest.

It soars over the canopy of all 49 continental states.

It's a phenomenal bird of prey,

second only to the California condor in size.

The eagle requires sturdy old growth forest to support its giant nest,

and prime real estate alongside rivers and lakes stocked with fish.

Like all birds of prey, it has huge, powerful eyes

that can detect the slightest motion below.

And long, razor-sharp talons, which easily pluck today's

lunch from the water.

But, thanks to powerful muscles in the legs,

they're capable of far greater feats.

Those things make me nervous.

They are armed to the tee.

You don't generally think of birds as being tough,

but the bald eagle is a fearless predator.

There have been some experiments done where

bald eagle's talon strength is 400 pounds per square inch.

That's like ten times a human grip.

You do not want to shake hands with an angry eagle.

Bald eagles used to be so abundant they fished the

waters off Manhattan Island and picnicked in Central Park.

But by the '60s, there were barely 400 breeding pairs left

in all of North America.

Today, thanks to conservation efforts,

their numbers are climbing back up.

In spring, hundreds of these charismatic birds gather along the northern Mississippi

for one of the easiest meals they'll ever come by.

Over winter, thousands of gizzard shad freeze in the icy water.

Spring releases their frozen corpses,

proving there is such a thing as a free lunch.

Downstream, a different kind of food is ripe for the plucking...

the American coot...

thousands of them, sitting ducks.

The eagles attack relentlessly.

In macabre fashion, they seem almost to play with their food.

And they're just as happy stealing someone else's lunch

as catching their own.

So what are these guys doing here?

They just showing off?

Meat tenderizing?

What's the point?

It remains a mystery.

The bald eagle is happy as both predator and scavenger,

and is a force to be reckoned with.

But how does it contend with America's other greatest animals?

The bald eagle?

Come on! It's our national symbol.

There's no way it's not going to make the top five.

If we don't put it in there, we'll be tried for treason.

Let's score:

Measurement one: power.

Talon strength and a two-and-a-half meter wingspan earn three points.

Measurement two: unique features.

Among our contenders, only the eagle ranges through all

49 continental states.

Three points again.

Danger to humans.

If you're any kind of small animal, watch out.

But humans are much more dangerous to them than they are to us.

One.

And finally: charisma.

This is indisputable.

As our national icon, bald eagles have inspired America

for more than two centuries.

A well-deserved five.

So the eagle garners 12 points... not bad for a bird,

but not enough for a seat at the table.

The wolf, with 16 points, is still in contention,

but for how long?

Beneath the forest canopy a host of new contenders are lurking.

These are creatures who hide in the shadows,

seeking shelter in the big wood.

If you're American and you live near some woods,

meet your neighbor, the black bear...

Ursus Americanus... this is our bear.

It's a smaller and very distant cousin of both grizzlies and polar bears.

And it has one feature in particular that really sets it apart...

the ability to climb.

This mother has given birth to four cubs.

They're a few weeks old.

It's time to show them around the neighborhood.

These cubs must learn which berries to eat...

which plants taste good...

and how to escape when danger comes calling.

A grizzly, twice the black bear's size,

would happily eat her cubs for dinner.

There's only one place to go... up.

Unlike grizzlies, black bears are built for

the vertical world.

Their non-retractable claws are much shorter than the grizzly's

and are curved like hooks... perfect for climbing.

I've filmed these guys before; they're awesome.

They're super-agile, super-nimble.

They're like a little squirrel but they weigh hundreds and hundreds of pounds.

The cubs are way out of the grizzly's reach.

Defeated, it moves on.

Africa's Big Five has a climber too, the leopard.

And the surprisingly agile bear can climb with the speed of a cat.

But, while leopards drag their meal up with them,

black bears ascend in search of food,

such as honey and pine nuts.

These days, black bears are rarely alone in the woods.

But they have an incredible ability to adapt to a changing world.

Hang your bird feeder where you like...

chances are the bear will get it.

The black bear deserves props.

In this day and age to be a survivor,

you have to adapt to humans and the black bear is really good at it.

These animals are perfectly designed for the woods.

That doesn't mean far out there.

It could be right behind your house.

Omigod, it's in the house, it's in the house!

There's no denying it: black bears are innovative problem solvers,

but if they get too comfortable around people,

it can be dangerous for them as well as us.

So how does the ingenious black bear stand up to the competition?

On power.

It gets a three.. strong enough to pull itself up a tree,

but not as powerful as its cousin, the grizzly.

For unique features:

Its ability to climb at a meter per second earns it three again.

Next, danger to humans.

There are occasional fatal attacks on humans,

but black bears are much more timid than grizzlies and may

retreat if you fight back.

Another three.

Finally, charisma.

There is definitely something exciting about seeing a black bear

but, again, it just can't compete with the grizzly.

Three out of five.

The grand total: 12...

same as the bald eagle and not enough to enter America's Big Five.

Someone in the forest needs to raise the bar.

Two meters tall.

500 kilos.

Cool crown.

Meet the moose... the world's largest deer.

These guys are awesome!

They're huge.

I don't think I've ever filmed an animal as bizarre as the moose.

They just look weird.

It's like God took all the spare parts and threw them

together and you got moose.

This massive beast standing seven feet tall

on these tall skinny, spindly legs.

Nice long legs and a big rack.

In my book, that's always good.

An antler rack can weigh 36 kilograms.

And be as wide as a man is tall.

Moose might be vegetarians,

but they're still intimidating beasts.

The bulls are as thuggish as any of Africa's Big Five.

They have a temper and if you get them mad,

you're in trouble.

It's not just the antlers that you have to worry about.

The legs are extremely dangerous on the moose 'cause they'll kick.

But there is a softer side.

This mother has recently given birth.

After a winter pregnant and deprived of good food,

she must re-gain her strength before cold weather returns.

She's got a lot of catching up to do.

What she needs is a nutrient-infused sodium boost

with a twist of iron.

And for that she's going to have to get wet.

Plants growing underwater have far more of the nutrients she needs.

But this behavior is unique:

Moose are the only large land mammals in North America that

eat aquatic plants, a feature deserving of extra points.

Well, if you're an herbivore,

if you can somehow figure out a way to have access to

aquatic vegetation as well as terrestrial, man,

that's just one step over all your other herbivore competitors.

Special valves close over their nostrils,

allowing them to hold their breath for up to a minute as they gorge.

20 kilos of food a day is a hefty requirement to fulfill.

And it does a number on your hair!

Poor lady.

The moose is the only large land mammal in America that

can feed underwater.

The males bulk up in pursuit of a higher calling: antlers.

Every spring, bull moose grow a completely new set from scratch.

At more than two centimeters per day,

it's one of the fastest rates of tissue growth in the animal kingdom.

An outer layer of soft velvet rich in blood fuels this spectacular growth.

But in fall, it's time to toughen up.

The males scrape off the velvet and polish their armor.

The bulls are ready to rumble.

It's over.

The loser retreats to lick his wounds.

The winner stakes his claim with a love potion oozing in pheromones.

It drives the ladies wild.

Ugh, ladies, what are you thinking?

Seriously? Ugh!

It's believed this bizarre ritual of rolling in the

male's urine speeds up the cow's ovulation.

When she's ready, she lets the prize bull pass on his crown and

seed a new generation.

But will the moose be king of the forest?

Let's see.

Measurement one: power.

Moose are big, bad brutes.

Definitely five out of five.

Measurement two: what special features set them apart?

Weird anatomy, giant antlers, underwater feeding with

specialized nostrils.

Moose have it all going on.

Another five.

Danger to humans.

I have actually been charged by moose more than

grizzlies, hands down.

Moose are huge, aggressive animals.

And collisions with cars kill at least 10 people every year.

Four out of five, not bad for a vegetarian.

Finally: charisma.

These guys make any road trip worthwhile,

so long as they don't hit your hood!

A goofy yet charismatic five.

19 out of 20.

The moose has beaten the black bear and the eagle.

He is the clear winner in the forest and joins the grizzly and

the bison in our quest to name America's Big Five.

Moose might be kings of the forests,

but the forests today aren't quite what they used to be.

Every year, there are thousands of collisions between cars and moose.

On one particular stretch of road in Idaho,

169 of these enormous deer were killed in a four-year period.

These biologists from the Idaho Department of Fish and Game are

studying where the moose travel to see how best to prevent

future collisions.

Come on up on land, come to shore.

She's hit.

Once the moose is sedated,

they can get a radio collar on.

Signals emitted by the collar will enable them to track the

seasonal movements of the animal.

8-9-4-4.

It's a remarkable chance to explore this

creature's features in detail and assess the female's health.

Worn down teeth indicate her age.

Four on each side.

She's got a big gap between the base of her tooth and where her

gum line is, where her tooth roots are showing,

so she's gonna be in that 10 to 15 age range.

Cloven hooves support her one-ton bulk.

There's a soft part here,

which is akin to the tip of, soft tip of our fingers.

These two toes can splay apart quite wide

and that gives them extra stability.

Then there's the dewlap, a weird bundle of skin

and fur dangling under the chin that still has scientists

completely puzzled.

This actually can get really long.

But there's something else...

something we can't easily see.

Joshua, we're gonna do a timed tick check for 90 seconds.

One, two...

Beneath two layers of fur lurks a tiny creature

flourishing on misfortune...

10, 11, 12.

Winter ticks.

13, 14, 15...

Their lust for blood transforms them from a grain of sand

to the size of a ripe grape.

17, 18, 19, 20.

Itchy ticks will cause a moose to rub itself raw and

can literally suck it to death.

On one carcass, scientists counted 100,000 of these

engorged parasites.

It's a problem affecting the southern range of moose habitat.

But, as climate change raises the temperature,

the ticks are spreading north.

24, 25, ooh, a lot more.

There you go, Scotty.

This female is pretty much covered in them.

There's a chance the ticks will kill her long before she

succumbs to old age or gets hit by a car.

There are few vehicles to worry about where we're heading next,

in search of our final contestants for America's Big Five.

We've covered mountains, prairies and forests.

There's only one region still to explore.

And it's the most brutal and breathtaking of all.

Africa's Big Five wouldn't last a day up here.

On the northern fringe of the Taiga Forest,

caribou wait out the winter storm.

These are America's reindeer.

And their large, flared hooves are perfectly designed to pull Santa's sleigh.

In fact, they change shoes with the season:

In summer, the pads soften and swell like a sponge to gain

traction on wet ground.

But in winter, the sharp outer rim of the hooves cut into ice like a ski's edge.

The hooves are useful, too, for digging under deep snow to find

what little food is available.

Their noses seek out the carb-rich lichen known as reindeer moss.

Anything that can eat that kinda stuff in that harsh

of an environment and get that big is an amazing animal.

Females especially must find what nourishment they

can as up to 90% of them will be pregnant.

They eagerly await the first signs of spring.

In the icy cold of the Arctic, spring finally arrives...

and, with it, the irresistible urge to move.

Millions of hooves set in motion,

thundering across the tundra,

nearly 5,000 kilometers.

This is what sets the caribou apart.

It's the longest land migration in the world.

Nothing in Africa can beat that,

and conditions here are a heck of a lot worse.

The wildebeest are soaking up the rays in Africa,

while the caribou are freezing their asses off in the icy cold of the Arctic.

With the caribou come the wolves,

who follow the herds north.

But the caribou lead this dance, avoiding the predator with

the grace of a flock of birds.

Nothing gets in their way.

They're strong swimmers, able to cross rivers at ten kilometers per hour.

That's a six-minute kilometer, as fast as most people run.

5,000 kilometers is an arduous trek for the pregnant females.

And timing is everything.

They must reach the northern pasture before they give birth,

but get there too soon and it'll still be covered in snow.

Everything's perfectly synchronized,

down to the precise time in June when all the females give birth.

50,000 caribou, all with the same birthday!

Everyone gorges on the giant salad bowl of cotton grass that

bursts to life under the warm summer sun.

It's not on the table for long.

The first frost comes in mid-August.

After that, it's a diet of mushrooms.

By mid-October, the caribou will move once more,

heading south to seek shelter in the forest.

It's a dance that's played across the tundra for thousands

of years, shifting with the seasons.

So how does the caribou measure up against America's biggest and best?

Measurement one: power.

It's neither the largest nor the smallest deer,

so it gets a mediocre three.

Measurement two: what amazing features set them apart?

That 5,000-kilometer trek through the snow ending in a

perfectly synchronized birth is definitely worthy of four points.

Next: danger to humans.

Those antlers might be fierce, but they're never going to be

used on humans.

One.

Finally: charisma.

Santa's reindeer appeal to everyone's inner child.

Three out of five.

Which gives the caribou 11 out of 20.

It doesn't make the cut.

The wolf, with 16 points, has beaten it.

Which means the wolf takes the fourth spot in America's Big Five

and joins the grizzly, the bison and the moose.

But there's one more spot still to fill...

and only one more contender worthy of the title...

the polar bear.

Now polar bears are like my personal favorite.

These guys can reach 12 feet when they're standing on their hind legs.

Hello!

Is there any more of a Big Five animal?

I don't think so.

It is the largest carnivore on land.

Biggest land predator on earth.

That is in anybody's Big Five, any continent, any planet, anywhere.

This is numero uno.

Doesn't get any bigger or better than the polar bear.

Fully grown males can stand one and a half meters tall at the shoulder.

The largest ever found weighed nearly 1,000 kilograms,

almost as much as a car.

How can the most frigid landscape on earth sustain such a giant?

They hunt seals out on the sea ice, but ice is ice.

It melts. It moves. It shifts.

Hiding beneath the ice is a rich source of food...

if you can catch it.

A bear can smell a seal's lair through a meter of snow.

And has the power to smash through the roof uninvited.

A more subtle approach is to wait quietly for a seal to come calling.

The tapered head and neck torpedo in.

The seal doesn't stand a chance.

There's only ever one thing on a polar bear's plate: meat.

So if you find yourself in the Arctic, beware,

you may find yourself on the menu.

Hungry bears will seize the opportunity for a meal however

it presents itself.

Anything moves, it's fair game.

It's pretty scary.

Two layers of thick, hollow fur,

along with ten centimeters of blubber,

help insulate the bear when it's -40 degrees.

The bear appears almost invisible under thermal cameras,

showing how little of its heat escapes.

Polar bears are impressively comfortable on land,

but it's in the water that their real beauty is revealed.

Here is a bear that's adapted to one of the most

hostile environments that the earth has to offer.

It's frigid.

And this bear loves to just jump in and take a swim.

The hollow hair shafts and buoyant blubber help keep

the bear afloat, while webbed toes turn feet into paddles

capable of propelling it across great tracts of open water.

Each year a bear may range across 100,000 square kilometers of ice floe,

sometimes covering 50 kilometers in a day.

On an island in northern Canada, this bear is on to something big...

Walrus.

It's a feast waiting to happen, if he can get close enough

without being detected.

On the aptly named Walrus Island in the Hudson Bay,

potential food lies napping on the shore.

In an extraordinary display of cunning and intelligence,

the bear moves downwind, silently bypassing the massive

bulls sleeping high up the rocks.

Then quietly slips into the water,

swims around to where the mothers and pups are close to the edge,

and then brazenly walks right in.

The bear zeroes in on a pup.

Its mother's valiant attempt to save it is futile.

Pups are easy pickings.

But in this very rare footage, a bear can be seen hauling a

massive bull walrus, twice its size from the water.

It's a gruesome scene, but one that confirms the ice bear's

supremacy as the apex predator in the Arctic.

The final appraisal is a foregone conclusion.

For power.

This is indisputable.

Five points.

And unique features that set it apart.

The ability to survive in the Arctic on nothing but meat,

to smell its prey from miles across the ice,

and to swim through vast tracts of frigid open water surely earn

the bear five more points.

Next, danger.

A hungry bear is unpredictable and the danger is very real.

Definitely another five.

And finally, charisma.

As the ultimate predator, it's got to be five out of five.

A perfect score.

Without question, the polar bear is one of America's greatest animals,

but it's also a creature in crisis,

that's now being monitored very closely.

And scientific studies are detecting an ominous trend.

Here in the Beaufort Sea off the north coast of Alaska,

the Arctic pack ice is shrinking.

Some bears must range much farther north to stay on solid ice.

But this takes them away from where the seals are.

Others are left stranded on land during hot summer months,

also unable to feed.

Bear populations are showing the strain.

Here in Alaska, nearly 60% of cubs now die in their first year,

a significant increase over recent decades.

And overall, numbers are grim.

Scientists predict more than a third of the world's polar bears

will be gone by 2050.

This team from the United States Geological Survey is monitoring

how the bears adapt to this rapidly changing world.

We're gonna be on him in just a second.

Getting ready to fire.

They've found what looks to be a decent sized male.

Nice shot!

Let's get it over on its side, get away from that thin ice.

Okay, here we go.

The team struggles to keep the bear away from

the water's edge.

He's really trying to get in the water.

Let's just keep working him into the flat area away from this water.

Heavily sedated, it would quickly drown.

C'mon, bear, go the other way.

Okay, there's a little bit of a stumble.

Let's just give him a couple minutes to relax a little bit.

Okay, I'll pull back just a little bit.

These are desperate times in the Arctic,

which makes this enormous beast even more impressive.

His feet alone are an engineering marvel.

Giant paws, 30 centimeters across, help distribute his weight on the ice.

Tiny adhesive bumps on the skin of the foot pad,

and thick tufts of fur between the toes, give traction.

Incredible animal.

The claws are slightly shorter than the grizzly's,

and hooked like the black bear's, perfect for running on

ice and grabbing slippery seals.

And the teeth are unmistakably those of a meat eater.

But if there's no ice, there's no way to catch seals...

these Arctic adaptations will be useless.

Polar bears deserve a spot in the Big Five,

but more importantly, they deserve the chance to survive.

Their hunting grounds are melting, the clock is ticking.

This is a species we can't afford to lose.

If we don't do something about it,

they're going to be gone forever.

But there's some good news: this bear is a recapture.

This bear has been tattooed twice.

He was originally tagged in 2001 as a yearling,

weighing less than 200 kilos.

972.

Today, he enters the class of heavyweights.

And he could continue grow 220 kilos more.

So the list is complete... the polar bear joins the grizzly,

the wolf, the bison and the moose.

It's a good list.

This is America's Big Five.

I would put this Big Five up against anybody's Big Five.

America's Big Five are as splendid as any creature

found anywhere on earth.

But there are thousands of other animals that need celebration too.

Because all creatures, big or small,

part of the web of life.

Not one animal is more important than another.

North America is home to an astonishing diversity of life.

From the mountains to the prairie,

from the forests to the Arctic,

we are the caretakers of these living treasures...

as we live in the company of America's greatest animals.

Captioned by Cotter Captioning Services.