Original subtitles

NARRATOR: In this dangerous land,

killers hide in the shadows.

Out here, no one is safe.

And three new victims have just met their fate.

A big bull hippo,

struck down in his prime.

A young lion,

his life over before it really began.

(SNORTS)

And a one-ton buffalo, a stalwart of his herd,

snuffed out.

Who, or what, ended their lives?

Anyone could be a suspect.

Killers can be victims

and victims can be killers.

Can you guess whodunnit?

(MUSIC PLAYING)

(HIPPOS GRUNTING)

This young male hippo is eight years old.

A member of the 300-strong pod of hippos living at Big Bend.

He’s lived here all his life

and has finally reached sexual maturity.

He’s in the prime of his life. \h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h\h(GRUNTING)

Or at least, he was.

This morning, his body was discovered floating in the river.

A killer has paid the pod a visit,

leaving its victim dead in the water.

But who is the culprit?

Three suspects were seen in the area.

A group of crocodiles that hunts along this stretch of river.

A dominant male hippo, the beach-master,

who’s always looking for a fight.

(HIPPOS GROANING)

And the Nsefu lions,

Luangwa’s known hippo killers.

(GROWLING)

(FLIES BUZZING)

But which one of them is the culprit?

Let’s analyze the suspects.

Crocodiles share the river with the hippos.

Proximity to the victim makes these guys a prime suspect.

And they’ve got priors.

Crocodiles are frequently seen eating hippos here.

They have one of the strongest bite forces of any animal on earth.

Plenty powerful enough to take on a hippo.

(HISSING)

They use their needle-sharp teeth

to rip chunks off the carcass, swallowing them whole.

And their powerful tails and infamous death roll

give them the strength to break through even the toughest skin.

A hippo would provide an incredible feast

for a group of hungry crocodiles,

feeding them for a week.

(HIPPO GRUNTING)

But there are risks when taking on a hippo.

A fully grown adult could bite a nine-foot crocodile in half.

So are the crocodiles the hippo’s killers or just scavengers?

(BELLOWING)

This is the beach-master,

the dominant male in the pod.

(HIPPOS GRUNTING)

He’s huge, weighing in at over 4,000 pounds.

He has fought his way to the top to reign over this hippo cohort.

He has the ultimate fighting weapons,

incisors for stabbing and canines for slashing.

And at this time of year, the dry season,

competition between bull male hippos is at its peak.

In these fights for dominance, the stakes are high

as the winner gains mating rights to the whole hippo pod.

For a young male, a fight with a beach-master is risky.

But the potential reward is huge.

Did our victim take a gamble that cost him his life?

(SQUAWKING)

The Nsefu pride.

They’re renowned hippo killers with previous convictions.

Only a week ago, they killed a female hippo from the same pod.

(SNARLING)

For lions to take on a hippo, it’s all about teamwork.

Only by working together do they have the skill and muscle power

to bring down a fully-grown adult hippo.

They also have another killing strategy...

Hunting at night.

(INSECTS CHIRPING)

During the day, hippos in the water are safe from attack.

But when night falls, they venture onto land to forage.

And the lions come into their own.

Many nights, the Nsefu pride

hangs by the water’s edge, waiting for the hippos to emerge.

(GROWLING SOFTLY)

They’re outweighed.

But they outnumber the hippo, and try to surround it.

(GROANING)

(SNARLING)

The only option for a hippo is to try to make it back to the water.

Sometimes they succeed.

But not always.

Is this how our hippo victim met his gruesome end?

Three suspects.

Three motives.

And three killing strategies.

But who is the killer?

Let’s review the evidence.

The carcass was discovered in the river,

so the killing almost certainly took place there.

The most obvious suspects are the crocodiles, which hunt in water.

But they would have ripped the carcass to shreds,

tearing off limbs with their signature death roll.

So it wasn’t the crocs.

Lions rarely hunt in water,

but if they had killed the hippo,

they’d also have taken huge chunks out of the carcass.

But the skin is unbroken.

And they probably would have dragged the carcass onto dry land to feed.

So it wasn’t the lions, either.

Based on the wounds on the hippo’s back, a fight definitely took place.

But many of these scars are old,

suggesting this was an ongoing battle.

That leaves one suspect...

The beach-master.

Was he the killer you suspected?

This is how it happened.

(BOTH BELLOWING)

As the day begins, a fight breaks out in the water.

It’s the young hippo and the beach-master.

Coming into sexual maturity,

the bachelor male has decided

it’s time to take on the dominant bull.

The two seem equally matched.

Slashing at each other with their huge canines,

it becomes a bloody battle.

Pushed back into the water,

the young male starts to struggle

against the brute force and experience of the dominant beach-master.

Exhausted from the battle, he tries to escape.

The beach-master decides to make it a fight to the death,

drags him underwater and holds him down.

The river becomes still once more.

Overnight, the drowned carcass floats back up to the surface.

The dominant bull drowned the young male.

Conflict like this is common at this time of year.

Only the strongest will survive.

Dominant bulls face many challengers,

so this killer could strike again.

The culprit in this hippo carcass case was the beach-master.

Conflict within a species is common in the natural world.

Just like hippos,

male impalas fight to gain mating rights to the females.

Battles are short, but savage.

One false move could mean death

as their horns are the perfect murder weapon,

piercing skin and flesh like a dagger.

This impala was killed by a single stab wound from his opponent’s sharp horns.

But sometimes out here,

carcasses are discovered where the cause of death is much harder to uncover.

This is a yearling from the Nsefu pride.

He has two brothers and they spend all their time together.

The pride has recently seen the arrival of new cubs.

The yearling knows it won’t be long

before he’ll have to leave the pride to fend for himself.

But for now, he’s taking advantage of being part of the Nsefu family.

(GROWLING)

He has his whole life ahead of him...

At least, he did.

This morning, his body was discovered in the brush.

Who or what would kill a lion?

The suspect list is a long one.

Many animals have lions on their hit list.

Elephants fight to protect their young,

(TRUMPETING)

and a feisty herd could easily trample

a young, naive lion.

(TRUMPETS)

Crocodiles are supreme predators,

almost unchanged for 80 million years.

They have no qualms in fighting a lion for food.

Hippos are often on a lion’s menu.

(GRUNTS)

But sometimes, even they fight back.

But in the last 24 hours before the carcass was discovered,

just three suspects were seen in the vicinity.

(GRUNTING)

A boisterous herd of buffalo.

A prickly porcupine.

And the Maneless Three, a gang from a rival pride.

But which of these potential killers

took the life of the young lion?

Let’s analyze the suspects.

The buffalo and the lions of Luangwa are constantly at war.

Lions love to hunt them,

but the buffalo are far from defenseless.

The buffalos’ sharp horns can puncture skin and cut through muscle.

A bone shield on their heads,

known as a boss,

is like a sledgehammer that can deliver a lethal blow.

And one kick could crush a lion’s skull.

Under attack from a predatory lion,

did these powerful herbivores turn killer?

This is an African porcupine.

The stumpy rodent hardly seems much of a match for a lion

but he has a quiver full of arrows.

Thousands of needle-sharp quills.

These modified hairs lie flat

until the porcupine is threatened.

Each quill is attached to a muscle

which is sent a signal from the brain to contract

when the porcupine senses an imminent attack.

But they deliver more than just a prickle to the nose.

It seems hard to believe,

but these quills can get so deeply embedded under the skin,

they’re almost impossible to remove,

causing internal damage, but leaving no visible trace.

Most adult lions are too sensible to go for this prickly meal.

But did curiosity kill our yearling cat?

Male lions can be the biggest threat to their own kind.

When they attempt a pride takeover,

the battle can be violent.

They will kill any offspring that aren’t theirs

to ensure the females come back into oestrus.

This infanticide always targets young cubs.

But yearlings can be victims, too.

And for a teenage lion, there are added risks.

The pride is focused on the new cubs

and a curious, over-confident yearling

could get himself into trouble.

Did the victim wander off and stray into

the neighboring territory of the Maneless Three?

An accidental encounter with the fiery threesome

would result in almost certain death for any young lion.

We have the motives and killing strategies for each of our suspects.

But who is the culprit?

Let’s review the evidence.

Death by porcupine spine is a slow process,

taking days or even weeks.

Our victim died in just a few hours.

There was also no sign of any impaled quills on the body.

So it wasn’t the porcupine.

There are also no bite marks on the body

so it’s highly unlikely to have been another lion.

Whatever killed the yearling left no mark.

So who was the killer?

If you thought a buffalo was to blame, you’d be right.

But how?

The night before the carcass is discovered,

the Nsefu pride is on the prowl.

And the yearling has joined the hunt.

They single out a buffalo at the back of the herd

and launch an attack.

Surrounding the buffalo,

the female lions come into their own.

(GROANS)

The yearling hangs back,

as it takes experience and knowledge to bring down a buffalo.

(THUDDING)

But the young lion gets stuck in the wrong place.

Trapped underneath the buffalo, he is trampled.

The damage is invisible,

but massive internal injuries

kill him within just a few hours.

An animal that is normally prey became the killer,

though in this case, it was self-defense.

Every year, many lions are injured by these formidable herbivores.

The buffalo was the culprit.

The lion carcass case is solved.

The problem with solving crimes out here

is that evidence disappears quickly.

The clean-up process for this young lion has begun with

some of the smallest residents of Luangwa, the ants.

Ants out here can be formidable.

Some have a ferocious bite,

and they will often travel in swarms of thousands,

destroying everything in their path.

When looking for a carcass,

the ants send out small search parties.

This impala was dragged nine feet up a tree by a leopard.

It’s a strategy to protect the kill from other predators.

Lions, wild dogs, and hyenas would all steal a free meal, given half a chance.

(HYENA SCREECHING)

It may be safe from them

but not from the ants.

Once they locate a body like this,

they release a pheromone to guide in the rest of the colony.

They use sharp pincers to tear off tiny chunks of meat.

But they aren’t the only ones cleaning up death in the valley.

These two scavengers,

a hooded vulture and a fish eagle,

have spotted their food from the sky

and come down for a feast.

But they need to wait for their larger cousins to arrive.

(SQUAWKING LOUDLY)

White backed vultures have powerful beaks that can open up the carcass.

With eyesight eight times better than a human’s,

they can spot a kill from up to a mile away.

In a matter of minutes, there can be hundreds feeding on a carcass.

Using their strong beaks to rip and tear,

they gorge themselves on soft muscle and organ tissue.

But the racket attracts another scavenger.

Hyenas’ hearing is exceptional,

so acute they can even hear a predator killing prey six miles away.

(CACKLING)

They’re one of the most efficient eaters on the plains,

able to devour more of a carcass than any other animal.

Their powerful jaws are capable

of snapping and crushing bone with ease.

Nothing goes to waste.

High levels of hydrochloric acid in their stomachs

enable them to digest bones, horns, ligaments and hair.

Once the hyenas move away,

the vultures vacuum up any last bone fragments.

Between them,

they are the ultimate crime scene clean-up crew.

These waste disposal experts are a vital cog in the valley ecosystem.

But their efficiency can make it hard to find

any clues as to why an animal met its end.

There is one last mystery killing to solve.

This is a 2,000 pound male buffalo.

At 15 years,

he’s one of the older members of the herd.

An experienced male,

he’s fought off many lions in his time

and fathered numerous offspring.

But in the late afternoon, a horrifying scene is discovered.

Buffalo are the ultimate prey species.

Already being devoured by vultures,

this stalwart male is found facedown in the mud.

Evidence is quickly being lost

as the more dominant birds fight for the best cuts of meat.

Dozens descend.

A carcass like this can be completely consumed in a matter of hours.

But vultures aren’t killers.

They must rely on something else to do the dirty deed.

But who would have left the vultures this incredible buffet?

Let’s take a look.

There are three possible suspects in this case.

First, a group of lions from the Nsefu pride.

The Hot Springs wild dog pack.

Or Olimba, the solitary resident leopard.

Let’s analyze the suspects.

The Nsefu pride, as we know,

are experienced buffalo killers.

So they are high on the suspect list.

They have the pack power to take on a buffalo

and these serial killers have a long list of previous victims.

But 70% of their hunts fail,

so were they successful this time?

Another group hunter.

The Hot Springs pack are wild dogs at the top of their game.

These African assassins have the perfect team hunting strategy.

(YIPPING)

They travel huge distances looking for prey.

Once they spot a target,

their strategy is to run it to exhaustion over long distances.

(BARKS)

At best, their prey only has a 30% chance of escaping.

Wild dogs are the most efficient of all the African hunters.

(YIPPING)

Once they’ve made a kill, they need to be on high alert.

There are thieves about.

There’s no time for table manners.

Speed is of the essence to avoid their prey being stolen.

This pack of 12 will eat 220 pounds of meat in just 15 minutes.

But what about the buffalo victim?

Could this pack have taken him down?

Buffalo weigh well over 30 times more than a wild dog,

and tower over them, too.

Nevertheless, wild dogs show no fear and are often seen taunting them.

So did the Hot Springs pack use their strength in numbers to commit the crime?

There’s one more suspect to consider.

Olimba.

She’s a fit, young leopard.

Her territory includes the location where the victim’s body was found.

She’s been seen eating buffalo before,

but was she just scavenging?

Could she really defeat a Luangwa heavyweight on her own?

She already has a criminal record,

but her past victims were mostly impala.

Impala are ten times lighter than a buffalo

and the leopard can take them down with ease.

Her tactic is to creep as close as possible.

Superbly camouflaged, she uses stealth to move almost unnoticed.

Her powerful jaws grip her victim in a lethal stranglehold.

Impala are perfect prey.

Small enough for a single leopard to take down with little risk of injury,

but large enough to provide several hearty meals.

On the flip side,

buffalo are 20 times heavier than a leopard

and well-armed with horns that can inflict serious injury, or even death.

Could Olimba’s stealthy tactics have helped her

to achieve the near impossible?

We have the motives and killing strategies for each of our suspects.

But who or what is responsible for the victim’s death?

Let’s review the evidence.

Wild dogs will devour their prey as soon as they bring it down.

But on this body, there is still plenty of meat left for the vultures.

Dogs in packs of 30 or more have been known to kill buffalo

but the Hot Springs pack only has 12 members,

not enough to be the killers.

If it wasn’t the wild dogs, was it one of the big cats?

The Nsefu lions or Olimba would have taken huge chunks out of the buffalo.

But before the vultures had their way,

the carcass seemed remarkably intact.

(FLIES BUZZING)

What’s more, there are thousands of buffalo footprints

at the scene.

And not one big cat print.

Leopards and lions are ruled out.

But if it wasn’t cats or dogs,

what did kill the victim?

A new suspect has emerged.

The Luangwa Valley is dotted with lagoons,

vital watering holes for hundreds of animals.

During the dry season, they evaporate

and accessing the dwindling water becomes trickier.

But there’s an upside that makes it worth the struggle.

In addition to quenching their thirst,

a mud bath is the perfect way to cool down in the heat of the day.

The buffalo cover themselves in this natural sunscreen.

So, how did this scene of tranquillity turn into tragedy?

Who or what is the mystery killer?

Let’s examine the evidence more closely.

As the day began to warm,

the buffalo herd crossed the muddy gauntlet

to get a well-deserved drink and a soothing mud bath.

But soon, the temperature sky-rocketed,

sucking the last of the moisture from the cooling mud.

Mud can set like concrete,

trapping its victims.

The buffalo spa became a death trap.

When the herd moved on,

he was stuck fast.

Unable to escape, hours later,

exhausted and dehydrated, the buffalo died.

Drought is a more deadly killer than any predator.

The buffalo carcass case is solved.

Every carcass in the Luangwa Valley has a story.

The cause of death can be surprising

as killers come in all shapes and sizes.

Carnivores aren’t always the bad guys

and herbivores aren’t always the victims.

With our three mysteries solved,

it’s only too clear that out here in this harsh environment,

death can come in many guises.

(HYENAS CACKLING)

(HIPPO GROANING)

Only the strongest

and the luckiest will survive.

(♪)

(♪)

(♪)

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