Original subtitles

Two of africa's most powerful carnivores

Reign over the savanna.

Lions rely on strength and teamwork -

To hunt prey no other predator can catch.

While hyenas are also masterful hunters,

They're quick to take advantage of other opportunities.

Their powerful jaws slice through hide and bone with ease.

Both species have large families to feed,

Creating a cycle of life and death on the savanna.

Others thrive on their leftovers.

This specialized,

And sometimes surprising, cast of scavengers

Relies on lions and hyenas for survival.

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At the very top of africa's food chain is the lion -

King of beasts.

These apex predators possess power and poise.

They hunt some of africa's biggest

And most dangerous animals,

And dominate other carnivores

In the race to secure enough food to survive.

There are few things more impressive

Than a lioness on the hunt.

She stalks her target undetected,

Before launching the attack.

The arrival of another pride member

Signals the end for the zebra.

Lions are revered the world over as regal beasts

And they thrive across the savanna

In large, close-knit families.

While the lion is revered,

The hyena is mocked.

These masterful opportunists

Are considered the clowns of the african bush.

Viewed by many as manic and mean,

Their reputation precedes them.

But it's ill deserved.

Though known as scavengers,

They are actually accomplished hunters,

Some killing as much as 95 percent of their food.

Like lions,

Hyenas also live in highly social

And strictly organized societies.

But what makes them special

Is their ability to take advantage of resources

Other animals can't.

Hyenas and lions live lives with a delicate mix

Of competition and cooperation.

The animals they kill don't only support the pride and clan;

They're a source of sustenance

For a host of other creatures large and small.

These scavengers are heavily reliant

On these top two predators for survival.

Building their lives from the leftovers.

A pride relaxes during the heat of the day.

While they rest there's plenty of time for play, and bonding.

The cubs have a charmed upbringing,

Watched over by the pride's adults.

They'll rely on their family for protection and food

Until they're around sixteen months old.

Their mother has spent her whole life

Living with her female relatives in this pride.

And she'll get important help from her sisters,

The cubs' aunts, in raising them.

The pride's lionesses suckle one-another's cubs,

Helping to share the burden of raising the young family.

While they don't have a breeding season,

Reproduction is often synchronized within a pride.

Lionesses give birth to litters of between one and four cubs

At roughly the same time.

This means that all of the cubs are similar sizes,

Avoiding competition at feeding time,

Giving everyone an equal chance at survival.

While the cubs begin to eat meat at just over two months old,

They will continue to suckle to the age of six months

Before being weaned.

For the spotted hyena pup, life is very different.

She lives in a clan where females hold higher ranks

Than males.

Weighing around 150 pounds,

The pup's mother is a full 20 pounds larger than any male.

The pup relishes any chance to explore the outside world.

Unlike lions, when the clan goes out to hunt,

There are no babysitters to stay back and watch over the pups,

So they're left behind at the den, hidden underground.

The young hyena was born with well-developed teeth.

But for now she lives exclusively on her mother's milk

And will do so until she's almost 9 months old.

It's a potent formula -

Hyena milk has the highest protein content

Of any terrestrial carnivore.

Unlike in lion prides,

Her mother receives no help in suckling

Or raising the youngster.

And without synchronized breeding,

Hyena packs often include young of varying ages.

As a result the pup has a number of older cousins.

These juveniles

Already have most of their first layer of spotty coat,

With only their legs retaining the natal black.

And they're old enough to join the clan on foraging trips.

Females remain with the clan for life,

But males will leave when they reach sexual maturity

In a year or two.

When they'll strike out to find mating opportunities

In another clan.

The female lion cubs

Will spend their entire lives in this pride.

But, like the male hyenas,

Their brothers will have to leave in their third year

To seek out a pride of their own.

They'll have to fight other males for control.

And these pride takeovers can have a gruesome result.

Incoming males will kill the existing cubs of a pride

In order to bring the females back into heat.

Cubs can only survive

If the pride's females work with the resident males

To help win the battle and prevent a takeover.

The biggest danger to lion cubs

Is the vicious disposition of adult males

Muscling in on their pride.

Throughout the savanna

Even the largest and most majestic animals are vulnerable,

Sometimes from their own kind.

Rhino bulls use their massive horns in fights for territories.

And these can be deadly.

This bull was no match for his opponent,

Which pursued him when he turned to flee.

The scrapes on his skin show where he was repeatedly stabbed,

Until the deadly blow was dealt,

Which pierced the skin at his foreleg.

Like all animals, even the giants of the savanna

Must eventually die.

And when they do, they present a perfect opportunity

For the spotted hyenas to make the most of their skill set.

An incredibly acute sense of smell and hearing

Means they're often the first to arrive at a kill.

A young male approaches cautiously.

Despite the meal on offer this is a dangerous place,

Lions also have a strong sense of smell

And are not above scavenging.

But the coast is clear.

Other clan members quickly arrive.

The raised tails of two females show confidence and excitement.

And they waste no time

In tucking into the rhino's thick hide.

Their higher rank means they're in first for the best pickings.

The young male respectfully waits his turn,

Picking off scraps when he can.

The hyena's formidable cheek-teeth, or carnassials,

Enable them to slice through even the toughest of hides.

And they don't come much tougher than a rhino's.

Eventually they gain access to the fatty flesh below.

The hyena's skills haven't gone unnoticed.

While many spend their lives

Actively avoiding lions and hyenas,

Others seek them out.

The vultures have followed the hyena

In the hope of being lead to a kill.

But they must wait their turn.

So must the male hyena that first found the carcass.

He's an outcast, born into another clan,

Which he left around the age of three.

After a long process of assimilation

The group finally accepted him.

But as a male he ranks lower than all adult females.

And because he wasn't born into this clan,

He also ranks lower than all the males who were.

The only creatures he holds rank over

Are the onlooking vultures.

Despite having done all the hard work to find the meal,

While the females are around

He's unwilling to challenge for a prime place on the kill.

The rhino carcass is an unusual and lucky find for the family

And will feed them for days.

Weighing over a ton,

The giant herbivore is part of a group of the savanna's largest

And most powerful animals.

All of which face no risk of predation.

This group of heavyweights includes rhinos,

Hippos,

And the largest land mammals of all -

African elephants.

At five and a half tons,

This elephant was well above the one-ton threshold of safety

And wasn't at risk of predation.

But even its imposing size can't protect it from old age.

The lion pride fed first

Then the hyenas took what they wanted;

Now it's left to the rest.

A black-backed jackal is reliant on lions and hyenas

To open up a carcass of this size.

While they're adept at hunting for themselves,

Jackals will take any chance to scavenge.

And the carcass presents an opportunity for a free meal.

Jackals live in monogamous breeding pairs

And have no wider social structure,

But will gather in numbers around a source of food.

Despite the elephant's desiccated appearance,

The remains still have valuable nutrients to offer.

Though this elephant's massive bulk

Kept it safe from predation,

For everything weighing less than a ton,

The threat from the savanna's hunters is ever present.

And none is more threatening

Than the lion.

One of the pride's lionesses has killed a warthog

And now at over two months old

These cubs are getting one of their first tastes of meat.

Lions' leftovers come in two guises:

Kills they intentionally hunted like the warthog,

And carcasses they stumble across like the elephant.

Animals of similar weight to the warthog

Make up more than half of the diet

Of most of the savanna's predators.

Lions can go for these bite-sized snacks

But they also have the advantage of incredible strength

And the ability to launch coordinated attacks

On larger animals like this buffalo.

Some prides get as much as 70 percent of their sustenance

From animals heavier than 600 pounds

Including zebra, giraffe and buffalo.

Huge males are slower than females

And often don't join in the hunts for more agile prey,

Earning them the undeserved stereotype

Of lazy freeloaders.

When it comes to bringing down

A one and a half thousand pound buffalo,

There's no substitute for brute strength.

And lone males are responsible for a substantial proportion

Of the buffalo killed on the savanna.

Unable to finish the entire animal by himself,

The pride's alpha

Is happy to share with some of the lionesses.

And while the family can devour an impala in one sitting,

An adult buffalo takes some eating.

As evening sets in,

The jackals begin to move.

The male and female of the monogamous pair

Head out to forage separately.

But they stay in contact via haunting calls.

They know that lions operate most efficiently at night,

And that the coming darkness

Increases their chance of scavenging a meal.

They're in luck.

After eating its fill,

The pride has left the buffalo carcass unguarded.

Opening the door for the male jackal.

And he's not alone.

The latecomer isn't his mate,

But another male from a neighboring territory.

He may have smelt the carcass from over half a mile downwind.

Following the scent of opportunity to its source.

But despite the huge carcass,

The first male isn't in the mood to share.

There's far more meat than the jackal can eat here.

But life on the african savanna is unpredictable,

And they must take full advantage of every opportunity.

Once he's full

He'll stash pieces of meat in hiding places

To return to in the coming days.

But he must work quickly.

The rightful owner of the carcass

Calls in the rest of the pride.

Now is not the time to be brave.

Soon enough they've reclaimed the kill.

Unlike hyenas,

Mature males dominate access to food in the lion pride.

But the alpha is still full

And there's enough here for the females and adolescents

To share in peace.

With so many predators operating under the cover of darkness,

First light reveals many casualties,

And opportunities.

In the night, a young blesbok has been devoured.

The lions have already done a good job

Of gleaning from the carcass almost

All the available goodness.

But there are still scraps to be had.

And a most unlikely group of visitors arrives to investigate.

A family of warthogs.

Warthogs are the only pigs

Adapted to grazing in savanna or grassland habitats,

Subsisting almost entirely on grasses and roots.

But they'll occasionally supplement this diet

With scraps of carrion.

The piglets seem more inquisitive than hungry.

And soon enough

They return to their favored food.

On another day,

These warthogs might have fallen prey to the lions.

But today they get a chance to see life

From the scavengers' perspective.

Lions seldom leave a carcass before they're satisfied,

But there are other, smaller predators on the savanna

Such as leopards and cheetahs,

Which will occasionally abandon their kill if startled.

This presents even greater opportunity for others,

If they can beat the hyenas to the spoils.

These hooded vultures

Are taking full advantage of an impala carcass

Killed, then abandoned by a leopard.

They're smaller than many other vultures,

And leave their roost around an hour earlier than other species

In the morning.

For these two, it's a case of the early bird catches the kill.

Hooded vultures are often the first to arrive at a carcass,

Avoiding competition with their bigger, more powerful cousins.

They use their sharp, slender beaks

To eat as much as they can from the kill.

Eating over half a pound of food per day.

Their early start and keen eyesight

Has paid off.

But the vultures aren't the only opportunists

Waiting to beat the hyenas and jackals to unguarded spoils.

An army from the undergrowth

Is quick to take full advantage of a fresh waterbuck carcass.

Dung beetles are famous for their strategy

Of rolling balls of dung cross-country

To stash safe below ground.

But they're also one of the first to arrive at a kill.

Where they make the most

Of the waterbuck's partially digested stomach contents.

Multiple species, of different sizes

All descend to exploit the resource.

But they're not just here for dung.

Many beetles will also eat

The fat and meat of the carcass itself.

And like the jackal,

Some will even stash parts in burrows beneath the ground.

The dung beetles' exceptional sense receptors

On club-like antennae

Mean they're often among the first to arrive

On a fresh carcass.

Given time,

They'll be surrounded by an abundance of insect life.

This wildebeest carcass fed a small pride of lions,

As well as numerous large scavengers.

But surprisingly,

It's at this very late stage

That it provides for the biggest variety of life.

All that's left is a thin layer of skin, hair, and sinewy flesh.

And an insect army

Has descended to take care of the very last scraps.

This is an ideal nursery for maggots,

And flies will lay masses of eggs while feeding.

Beetles of various species abound,

Feeding on the final pickings that the carcass has to offer.

They peel away layers of hair

To get to the connective tissue beneath.

And in time, the carcass is polished all but clean.

The work of the lions

Has provided opportunities to feed for a huge abundance

And variety of life,

Big and small.

Jackals, vultures,

Warthogs and even beetles

All benefit.

While many have to rush to take advantage

Of the opportunities presented by lions and hyenas,

The world's most infamous scavengers require patience

To get a meal.

The hungry white-backed vultures have been waiting

For their chance to feed on the rhino carcass

For over a day now.

A spotted hyena can eat a third of its own body weight

In a single sitting -

Enough to last it a week.

And they aren't in a hurry to leave.

The once bulbous rhino has been dramatically reduced.

Its chewed-through hipbone stands as testament

To the incredible jaw strength and crushing premolars

Of the hyenas.

With less meat left on the carcass,

Competition is rife.

The approach of the alpha female sends the others running.

Her swollen stomach is a sign she's already full,

But she continues to take as much as she can.

While this may seem unnecessary,

It's driven by her instinct to reproduce.

The more she eats, the more milk she can produce

And the shorter she can go between pregnancies.

This results in her successfully raising

Up to five times as many pups as lower ranking females.

But she'll have no help in feeding her young,

So it's imperative for her

That she makes the most of every opportunity to feed.

Eventually satisfied, the alpha female

And high-ranking members of the clan leave.

The young male finally gets his chance to feed

On the kill he found.

He doesn't waste any time and dives straight in.

Deciding on a more direct approach.

But with only one hyena left,

The vultures sense their opportunity.

Sometimes even the most powerful carnivores

Buckle under the weight of pressure

From other scavengers.

But an empty stomach drives him to return -

He's not prepared to give up his prize just yet.

Lacking the slicing teeth of the hyenas,

The vultures can't pierce the rhino's skin.

Which means the young male

Only needs to defend the open side of the carcass.

Eventually he decides enough is enough

And the frenzy begins.

At 12 pounds, the white-backed vultures can gobble

A fifth of their weight in meat in less than 5 minutes.

Unlike the hyenas and jackals,

Vultures seldom hunt for themselves,

Relying mostly on carrion for their food.

And these typically green-necked immatures

Will have to learn quickly

How to get their share in the maelstrom.

But they should take care.

In their frenzied feeding

White-backed vultures will occasionally get trapped

Deep inside the carcass.

And face the grizzly end

Of being eaten alive by their peers.

A much larger cape vulture enters the fray,

Weighing as much as 20 pounds.

Its neck is flushed red with excitement.

Normally cape vultures would dominate the white-backed,

Using their larger size to intimidate them.

But the sea of feathers is impenetrable,

Even to the bigger birds.

Together the vultures will make short work of the carcass.

Taking whatever the hyenas have left behind.

Once the rhino carcass has been exhausted,

Many of the vultures will resume

One of their tried and tested food-finding strategies.

Following the savanna's two top carnivores.

Between lucky finds and patience,

They'll rely largely on the savanna's apex predators

To keep them fed.

The lion pride and the hyena clan occupy the top spots

On africa's food chain.

Motivated by the constant struggle

To secure enough for themselves and their families,

They take down and open up prey

Too big for most other predators to tackle.

And in so doing,

They provide opportunities for a host of life forms

Occupying less glamorous positions in the cycle of life.

On the african savanna

The life of some

Depends on the death of others.

In a cycle driven by predators and dependent on prey,

None are more important

Than the two most powerful carnivores.

Bringing down big game

Untouchable by others.

And opening access

To resources that only the natural workings of time

Can provide.

These social creatures

Do all they can for the betterment of their family.

And in so doing,

They unwittingly provide for an abundance of life

Thriving on the results of their labor.

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